Rain and the Interstate

10/3/2012

Rain and the Interstate

I don't know about where you live; but, in the Washington DC area any kind of precipitation that falls from the sky creates a driving nightmare.  I know the majority of us are transplants from other states; but, really people you can't drive in light rain?  Notice I said LIGHT rain - this was no deluge where your wipers run themselves into a frenzy trying to keep the windshield clean or you hit a puddle the size of the state of New Hampshire.  Yesterday morning it was raining (lightly), so I decided to rush out of the house super early for several reasons.  If I leave the house before 6:30 am I avoid the bottle neck of high schoolers and their mothers at the bus stop who are parked every which way so that Johnny and Jane don't get wet.  Hint to the mothers - use your flashers - it lets me know what you might be going to do - like move for instance.  One mother in particular parks right at the stop sign, minus flashers, so it's pretty hard to tell whether you should go around her or not. To be honest the urge to drive OVER her is not completely unreasonable.

Even at 6:15 am the interstate had already slowed down to a crawl and then we came to a complete stop.  Why?  Some poor unfortunate driver had his/her car break down and there the car sat in the middle of a lane creating one heck of a bottleneck.  I did feel bad for the driver because I think it would be next to impossible to push your car over to the shoulder - in the rain - in the dark - and during rush hour.  A very bad combination.  I'm hoping that some kind of good Samaritan came along after me to help get the car moving.  

Some of my coworkers who live much farther away than I do had commutes lasting over an hour which is a terrible way to start the day, not to mention hard on a coffee-filled bladder!  I don't know about you but if I sat in traffic long enough, making no progress the temptation to turn around and go home would be very strong.

Here's hoping for an easier commute this morning!

P