Tuesday, March 13, 2012

No matter how much I enjoy the company of people–or have grown to enjoy the company of people, I should say–I still loathe the company of people on the road. You would call this “traffic.” And I bore witness to the full horrors of it today with a double dose of rush hour, starting at 7:37 AM EST. Keep in mind I usually don’t roll out of bed until closer to 8 AM, so to be up and fully conscious on our public thoroughfares was an accomplishment. Medal’s in the mail, I know.

I had to bring my car into the shop, hence the early rise. Within minutes of leaving my driveway, though, I beheld a long stretch of automobiles, extending far into the horizon in fits and starts. What would normally have taken me seven minutes to traverse more than tripled in duration. We’ve discussed this idea of automotive integrity before, where driving is a kind of covenant with the road founded on speed or, at the very least, motion. Gridlock, accordingly, is an absolute affront to this.

My old man used to commute from Long Island to Stamford every day. How? I imagine “necessity” was part of the answer, but I wonder if there was tougher stuff, some mental grit, at work. How do you tolerate traffic? Do you rely on audiobooks, or the radio, or some other diversion? Disregard those last two questions. That was my poor attempt at engaging you in true social media fashion. Feel free to share your input by using the commenting system below, which doesn’t exist at all.