Driving Me Crazy

It’s a jungle out there. I’m not talking about a place with a bunch of wild animals, but the roads full of Lexus, Mercedes, Fords and Chevys, not to forget the International Freightliners and Mack Trucks. I spent most of today driving home from Washington so I could make Susan’s 50^th birthday party.

I came home the Southern Maryland 301 route to avoid I-95 all together. It took a little longer mile wise but traffic wise it was much better. When I drove up to DC on Thursday I looked across the median of the interstate to see the southbound traffic at a practical standstill for over 90 miles. My DC friends say the southbound traffic is almost always horrible between Washington and Richmond night and day everyday of the week. What none of us can figure out is why it is so much worse one direction than the other. Don’t people go one way and have to eventual turn around and go back again?

The traffic in DC is a nightmare these days. Yesterday, after the memorial service I went out to see my sister Janet’s business in Rockville, Maryland. She is the President of Reaction Retail, a business that makes private label cosmetic gift boxes for stores. I had never seen her operation and it was fun to meet all her employees and see how they manufacture all the various products. The only problem with going there was the drive.

Back in 1983 when I first moved to DC I had a sales job that had me driving between Delaware and North Carolina. I knew every exit on I-95 and many back routes through the DC Metro Area. Although the traffic could be bad back then, I often had a reverse commute since I lived in DC and went to visit customers outside the city. But DC traffic now has no reverse commute advantage. It is bad going every direction all the time. And forget secret back routes, what with GPS maps everyone has access to all the alternatives in real time.

If I still lived there I would have to become a shut-in or face certain time in women’s prison for a road rage related incident. Prison might be a step up from DC traffic. At least you would not have to worry about getting anywhere is a reasonable amount of time in a car.

Being home in little ‘ole Durham I am ever appreciative of the small radius of my daily life and the fact that I don’t have to fight with my fellow citizens just to get to the grocery store. I like visiting jungles with real animals, but I don’t want to live in a concrete jungle full of cars.