Maybe, Just Maybe

Maybe, just maybe, we're getting smarter. I started thinking about this the other day driving the freeway home from Chicago and entering a construction zone.

Here in Michigan the "barrel season" opens in April and usually runs through October until the weather  dictates an end to road work. Inevitably, construction season also means lane closures and those signs advising "Lane Ends." Usually the driver is advised the lane will end in 3 miles, then 2, then 1, and then you see the flashing arrow and the barrels squeezing the one lane into the adjacent.  In the past, however, my experience has been that it just doesn't happen as smoothly as that. My experience here and elsewhere has been that, by the time you are reading "LANE ENDS IN ONE MILE," traffic has already slowed to a crawl or stopped. That happens because about a quarter of the drivers feel the need to jump the line, race all the way to the merge site, and then force their way in while the drivers behind are abruptly stopped. That line jumping behavior is incredibly rude and selfish and, judging by my observation, doesn't get the imposer much more than a few minutes ahead of the game-- and only at the cost of increasing the misery of other drivers.

So, last Sunday, I was dumbstruck as I approached the merge lane and I could see almost a mile in the distance the affected lane was wide open: No line of cars trying to wedge their way in. No slowing of the traffic flow. No rear-enders. No angry drivers. Just a smooth flowing merge. Come to think of it, this whole summer has been better in that regard. Not perfect, but better. Far fewer major back-ups owing to merged lanes and line jumpers.  So that made me think that, hmm, maybe we are getting smarter.

Wouldn't that be amazing if people we're getting to a point where they actually were coming to realize there is more to gain from cooperation and sharing than there is to be gained from selfishness? It seems entirely contrary to prevailing human nature, rather unlikely at best but, that said, one can only hope that maybe, just maybe, the highway is the harbinger of better things to come.