Road construction, pedestrians and Five Points all have one major thing in common; they back up traffic.
Sitting in traffic is one of the little things in life that often causes the most frustration.
It’s especially difficult to contain your frustration when you have somewhere to be or are running extremely late.
As a society, we live a fast-paced lifestyle. We want what we want and we don’t want to wait very long for it. Hence the reason fast food chains have grown immensely, but that is an entirely different subject.
In our lifetime we spend days sitting in traffic. Those days include hours of sitting at stop lights. Sure, these hours we waste in traffic add up, but sometimes you just have to contain the road rage.
Here’s my confession to you, readers: I have road rage. Where I come from, traffic jams consist of two cars behind a tractor on the highway. But you always see an end to the traffic when the kind farmer tips his hat and pulls over in the ditch to allow you to pass.
In Murray, I have found my drive from the residential colleges to the lovely Wilson Hall is longer than the walk at certain times of the day. The mile I drive from Elizabeth College to Wilson?Hall takes up to 15 minutes. When I am home, my drive to the nearest town with a Walmart takes the same amount of time, and it is 15 miles away.
All that aside, being stuck in traffic can turn us into the Hulk. However, one thing I have learned from Five Points and the road construction on the bridge between Paducah, Ky., and Metropolis, Ill., is being angry about the traffic is not going to get me where I need to be any faster.
As annoying and terrifying as it is to sit on the bridge and constantly tap the brakes every two feet, anger won’t magically make the traffic disappear. So instead I roll down my windows, crank up the music and just relax.
My car is one of the only places not flooded with distractions and the need to multitask. It is a safe haven from the stress of the outside world. And even though I have to actively pay attention to the road, I have little else to worry about.
Although sometimes I?feel like brake checking the monster truck tailgating my little car or yelling at the idiot checking Facebook while he could be turning right on red, I?try to remember the world doesn’t revolve around my vehicle and sometimes we could all “settle for a slow down.”
So when it comes to the road, remember the rage won’t get you farther along the road. Instead, enjoy the moments you have in your car. After all, those moments in the car may be the most peaceful moments of the day.
Column by Hunter Harrell, Assistant Features Editor
