Stuck in Traffic

Last night Ev got to decide where we would have dinner. As luck would have it, his choice put us on a Los Angeles freeway going toward the airport at 5:30 in the evening. The whole way there, a 15 minute drive that was burning up the better part of an hour, all you could hear was, "God, I hate this. I could never do this. This is ridiculous. God, I hate this." It was like a sound loop on a cable radio station sans the variety.  The further we got into it, the worse it became.

The episode reminded me, however, of what life must be like for some people. They head out on their life adventure and instead of scooting right along to a wonderful destination they get stuck in some godawful mess. But, unlike a southern California freeway clogged with people on their way one from work which will continue to push you along toward your destination no matter how tedious, life events sometimes seem to stop a person in their tracks.

Sometimes I think people are victims of their own poor planning. They pick the wrong destination, or select the wrong route, or choose the wrong time to travel, or they don't really know where it is they're going, or, worse still, they let the wrong person make their decision. Then, when they find themselves tangled in the snarl of frustrated personal progress they simply do what every driver on that LA freeway last evening wished they could do: they just stop. They don't do it anymore. They go home. The sad thing is, like last night, if you stop, pull over, or turn around, sometimes you miss out on something really great. Worse still, many times you won't end up anywhere at all.

I guess that's one of the great lessons of the LA freeways, if you will: In life, like the freeway, it's important to have an idea of where it is you want to end up. In life, like traveling in a congested city, it's important to understand the routes available. And, too, like a busy freeway, it's important to understand timing, the "when" in life.

I guess the final realization I gained from traveling that freeway last night was this: For all the shortcomings of my little hometown, I thank god we don't have a freeway! The only time traffic stops where I live is for red lights and stop signs.