The Downtown Drive, Part 2

I wasn’t really sure I would make this a multi-part post, but after this morning’s drive in, I figured I could add a few more details.

So this morning I left the house around 6:40, stopped and got a nice cup of joe (triple venti, non-fat, no whip, white mocha if you please), and jump on I-35E heading South. Well, it was around 6:50 am when I finally hit 35, and boy, was traffic nice and light. I think it took me right about 30 minutes to get to the office and I hardly had to hit my brakes. That’s not to say I didn’t hit them, just that I hardly used them.

Why is it when people see flashing police lights on the other side of the road, they must hit their brakes and rubber neck to see what is going on? As we were coming up on the GBT (George H. Bush Turnpike for those uninitiated readers) there was a police office with his lights on the shoulder of the North bound side. Of course, once everyone saw these lights they had to slow down to about 30 mph to see what was going on. And what was going on? Nothing. Motorist was pulled to the side of the road so the officer was probably just warning approaching motorists of the danger.

See, it’s things like that, things about the human psyche that just puzzle me. You hear people complain about the traffic, complain that it takes them an hour to get into work, yet they are the same ones slowing down to see the carnage on the other side of the road. Don’t they get it? Watch the road in front of you and you might get to work in 30 minutes, and you probably won’t get into an accident. That is, of course, as long as you aren’t shaving your face or putting on your eye liner.

The Downtown Drive

For years now I have worked in the suburbs, never having the joy of working in a downtown skyscraper and never having to live through the downtown commute. At the most I’d have to drive 30 minutes to get from the house to the office. Now, however, I have to endure the drive downtown from our nice cushy suburban town.

It always amazes me at how traffic is so time based. Hit the highway at 7 am on the dot, and you hit very little traffic and can breeze into downtown. Hit the highway at 7:05 am, and your experience is something all together different. You get to experience a sea of red taillights staring out you, people weaving in and out of lanes for that extra car length, and people finishing their daily hygiene rituals in the car.

It always amazes me to see people driving with their knee, drinking a cup of coffee, and putting on their make-up (or shaving) while driving in traffic. These are some true multi-taskers here. Imagine how much they must get done at work if they can manage all of this and not get into a wreck. It’s funny to me, because I was listening to an old TWIT episode on the way into work today (Episode 136) and they were talking about how we humans need so many inputs into our life to be balanced.

I think the ones that amaze me the most are the cell phone talkers, although the ladies putting on eye liner rank right up there. As you approach a slow moving vehicle, with no one around for miles, you can almost wager odds that the person is on a cell phone. This morning, as I was making the snails way to work (I got on the highway at 7:10 am, hence the sea of red), there was a gentleman behind me that was getting a little too close to my rear bumper for my enjoyment. He finally weaved over to the lane next to me, and as he caught up my suspicions were right: he was on his cell phone entranced in a conversation. Now what makes this interesting in my eyes is that he was driving a used car that he recently purchased, and his maneuvering into the next lane put him right behind an 18 wheeler that cost him at least a 1/4 mile on me. Pay attention to the road and you might not have that happen.

So, I guess I will have to get used to the crawl into the office, put on a few podcasts, and enjoy the behaviors of those around me.