Dear Los Angeleans,
The issue addressed in this letter is heartfelt. It comes from a native who loves Los Angeles. These thoughts have been festering for sometime and I have come to the realization that I can go no longer without asking: At noon, on a weekday ... WHERE ARE YOU GOING? I'm on the 110 and it looks like this:
I'm on the 5 and it's even worse:
On the 10, the 405, the 710 and 60, it's all the same ... Is it a job? An appointment? A class? A date? Where are you going? Are you heading to band practice, as my husband and I concluded while watching a man, with drumsticks, drumming on his steering wheel and driving at the same time? This question has plagued me since I was a kid and I've never found a conclusive/satisfying answer ... I guess it's just part of our nature as Los Angeleans. We're always on the move (albeit, slowly). There aren't many places where someone can paint two words on their rear windshield knowing, without a doubt, that someone, while sitting in traffic, will appreciate the distraction and share the same sentiment (especially during the World Cup):
Normally, I'd recommend getting a life, but here's a fact: this is your life. Traffic. It's inevitable. It's part of living in a large city. As a native, I get it, but still I wonder ... What part of your life requires sitting in a car for two hours every day?
Sincerely,
Mrs. Pea
Todd and I were talking the other day about this same phenomenon--"what are all these people DOING at 12 pm." so funny. We talked about how having a job with funky hours is not so bad because then you miss all the traffic. But then we realized there are always exceptions. In Sacramento, I would leave at 6:15 am, and be stuck in traffic. I would get off work at 3:30 and be stuck in traffic. Those are also odd times to be stuck in traffic! I don't think I could live somewhere with so much traffic. Even Topeka drives me nuts at rush hour (I think it's the light patterns though!)
ReplyDeleteDC is the same! Drives us nuts! But they also add the insanity of turning right from the left lane, driving on the shoulder of the road, and u-turning in front of another packed row of cars trying to turn. We've never figured out where they were going, but we did conclude the problem was no one knew how to merge into traffic, thus slowing everyone down. Domino effect.
ReplyDeleteI've often wished that people had signs on their cars stating what their business was on each particular trip. I'm glad others wonder such things as well.
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