Countin' the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike...

This was a significant day for me-- for the first time, I believe, in my life, I actually heard and was helped by an applicable traffic report. I was astonished. For me, traffic reports never have anything to do with where you are trying to go, and are a good time to switch to the other station. But today, as I was sitting in traffic on I-30 and moving along at a snail's pace, I decided to turn on the radio to pass the time. I heard the last verse of a song, (I think it was Every Once in a While), and then Michael Scott came on. And before I could push the #3 button for the Wolf, he actually started talking about my very own traffic jam. He informed me that there was a wreck right in front of the exit to which I was trying to get, and that I was in the middle of an hour long delay that stretched far behind me and a good way in front of me. He also very helpfully declared that the accident was in the right lane, enabling me to make the wise choice of staying in the center. It was great. Gave me such a kick. You know you hear these things all the time, but to actually use one-- it's cool.

Then I finally got up there and had another thought-- why the heck do we have traffic jams anyway? It seems like such a silly waste of time, to crawl all that way just so you can speed up once you've passed the accident. I suppose it's all the fault of the first car that passes after the wreck. He slows down, which makes the car behind him slow down, which just causes a chain reaction all the way down the highway. And then there's no way to stop it! (Does any school offer a class in the physics of highway traffic? Cause I'd sure take it. This stuff bothers me exceedingly.)

Then there's the question of whether those buttons on street corners really have any effect on the traffic lights . . .