traffic

Getting stuck in traffic does funny things to a person.

Some people get angry. You can tell because they inch forward in abrupt bursts, their knuckles grip the wheel, and their face looks like it’s about to erupt.

Other people are more chill and take the time to unwind from a busy day.

Getting stuck in traffic used to help me remember things.

One of the most memorable traffic jams of my life happened near Vancouver, B.C. My husband and I, before we had children, had driven from Fort McMurray to Maple Ridge and spent a weekend with friends. We enjoyed the Expo downtown for an entire day, well into the night, which ended with fireworks over the ocean. Before leaving our friends in Maple Ridge, amidst the merriment, we made plans to stop in on our way home.

The next day we left for Vancouver Island where we spent a solid week with my in-laws, salmon fishing in the Straight of Georgia and doing all the fun touristy things, like visiting Goats on the Roof Country Market in Coombs. We drove over to Long Beach, too, which is a twisty car-sick inducing trip, to picnic at the Pacific Ocean.

There is something about sun, hours and hours on the water, beach, good food, and a complete change in scenery that magically wipes away the daily reminders of routine and calendars.

A week later we were heading back to Maple Ridge except we were stuck in traffic.

We had turned off the Trans Canada Highway near the Port Mann Bridge, and came to a dead stop in traffic. It was a hot summer day and for some reason, our air conditioner wasn’t working. We had our windows open, and the radio playing. Time crawled by. About ten or fifteen minutes into our stand-still, my husband shut the motor off. I recall sliding my seat back as far as it would go and reclining to relax. It is the oddest feeling to be driving fast, then coming to a complete stop on a highway.

With all the time and nothing to do, we relived our holiday, going over the highlights, and the lowlights. We didn’t move for over an hour. Gradually, my mind drifted back to home, to work, to where we would be heading in a few days. I was suddenly struck with the realization that I was due back at work the next morning. Even if traffic began moving that instant, we would not have been able to make it back to Fort McMurray in time.

We had one of those ancient cell phones the size of a loaf of bread so I was able to phone my supervisor and be granted a couple more days of holidays.

Lately, getting stuck in traffic is having the opposite effect on me. If I’m heading downtown and have two places to go but have to crawl through traffic, I will forget about one of the stops. With all that extra time, I fill up my mind with things completely unrelated to my outing.

So if you’re expecting me and I don’t show, blame it on the traffic.