Beating Traffic

This is something I am sure we are all guilty of from time to time, but something that happened yesterday has me thinking.

My girlfriend and I have moved to a new area a few months ago, and the Christmas parade was held yesterday. She had asked me to go and I thought it would be some fun, so we ventured down. It was fairly cold, and the parade lasted over an hour. As it was coming to an end, I looked down the street and could see that it was about to conclude. The Santa Claus float was only a few minutes away. Most of the kids were screaming with excitement.

Then there was a mother and father next to me with two young children. With the parade about to finish, Santa Claus only meters away, they decided to leave. The kids were crying and the father was yelling that they had to beat traffic. I couldn't believe it. Beating traffic was more important than allowing his children to see the old fella.

It quickly annoyed me, and has been building since. Not just this event, but anyone who skips out on anything in order to beat traffic. Why? Are our lives in that much of a hurry that we can not appreciate the little things? Sometimes I like to see the last few seconds of a sporting event rather than be one of the first cars out of the parking lot.

In a hurry for what? To get home? Lay on the couch? Bed? Just to wake up and do it all over again.

Sometimes I think we all need to stop and enjoy whats around us rather than rushing through things. Some have valid reasons for having to do this from time to time, and that is not my purpose here. I direct this towards people who skip out on things, just so they can get home a few minutes early, to do nothing!

I'm afraid I am not one who belongs to your target audience (that is, I like to see the whole thing, whether it is a parade, show, whatever), but I would like to jump in on this thread to share my opinion.

I don't like the traffic either, but instead of trying to beat it, I try to follow it. I plan from the beginning to hang around until most of the traffic is gone. For example, I recently went to a show and instead of leaving before the end (as I observed many people do), I stayed until the end. Then after the show, I walked down the street to a coffee shoppe, got something to drink, re-read the program, then left. By this time, the traffic had thinned out and getting home was no big deal.

I agree with you, though. I think to often people are rushing through their lives.

I'm like DCFusion, I prefer to follow the traffic also ... just not from work
I used to work really cool hours at my old job though, got home BY 4pm
Now I don't have to worry about that at all as I am currently inbetween jobs but I tell you being in Japan you have to have your chi centered when driving in any conditions lol

Your thread reminds me of my dad though chissler. He's one of those, although he never used to be. These days he'll stay an hour if we're lucky, at a wedding or family visit or dinner etc ... and I still can't stand it, but there's no talkin to him about it and he's a hardworkin man so I figure his rest is important to him.
Just makes me kinda sad that it seems to be important to him than quality family time, especially considering I am living overseas now. But I forgive him and love him just the same.

Its very similar to many things, not just traffic and it amazes me that people are so blind to see that trying to be first is probably causing a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety that is self-inflicted.

Take the movie theater for example. As soon as the ending credits roll, everyone jumps up and tries to rush the exits. Everyone in the crowd moves slower and those who leave then takes them longer to make it out of the building. I sit there for a few minutes and maybe see a name in the credits that I recognize and then easily get up and leave with no hassle. By then the parking lot is cleared somewhat and can easily drive away as well.

The highway is no different. 98% of our highway traffic in my area is speeding. I can drive the speed limit and a huge pack of cars comes flying up and they are all having to jostle for positions to get around each other. They don't realize they are creating their own traffic amongst themselves. As soon as they go by, the road is clear like the best driving conditions ever and I am stilling making normal time at the speed limit. They save maybe a few minutes on a short trip, but have caused themselves quite a bit of aggrevation for themselves in the process.

I don't get it. What's the hurry?

As a general rule, IMO, I think if people act and react like they do in obvious things like this, they probably run the rest of their lives the exact same way. I find that when you rush things - anything - it tends to suck all the joy out of it and usually screws up the quality of all the details as well.

That is really sad! I could never leave (for the children’s sake) at that moment. Seeing Santa Claus is like magic to children. I do think we are in too big of a hurry these days. All the things we have to make our lives convenient, we are programmed to be in fast motion, and things that slow down our flow are often irritating to us. My neighbors are from the UK, and they will relax after a meal at a restaurant, while we are tapping our fingers waiting for the check so we can get moving

I’ll make it a New Years Resolution to slow down and take every thing in stride, enjoy the little things. As far as traffic, that’s never bothered me. I just turn on the talk radio and listen, then I actually get peeved if I make it home too early and I didn’t get to hear something that was coming up.

In a hurry for what? To get home? Lay on the couch? Bed? Just to wake up and do it all over again.

Exactly.

He's going to be kicking himself when he gets home and grabs a bag of potatoe chips only to find out that his favorite show isn't even on.

Now his kids are pissed at him and he aint' gettin' any from his wife tonight.

I have to agree with you Chissler that not letting the little ones see Santa so that "DAD" could beat traffic is quite selfish on "DADS" part. I too am one of those people who don't bail out early to beat the traffic. I have a buddy who will leave everything early to beat traffic. He even missed one of the greatest plays in Eagles history because he left the game early.
Nope, I am not in a rush to get nowhere. When you see the fool weaving in and out of traffic trying to get ahead of everyone else I always wonder "Will he get there 30 seconds quicker by doing that?" Then I always laugh when He's caught at the same stop light as me.

Do people even know what they are rushing for? Do they even have a reason for it? It's not like there's some kinda emergency.

It's like "Hey, Santas coming. Oh, but you can't see him 'cause hurrying home is more important." Like, who does that?

Is it not worth being in traffic (which really isn't a big deal at all) and lettin' the kids see Santa? Is being the first person home more important than letting the kids see Santa Claus?

Ahhhhh, some people always in such a hurry to do stuff. We got our whole lives to do these little thing like getting home.

So why not take our time and enjoy things, like a parade, while we can?






-tts

I take my time, I am traveling with precious cargo.. namely me and my kids..
I watch the credits, there are some hilarious outakens, sometimes, and the closing credit song is usually pretty good..
Three is no need to rush through life, we all end up at the same place, and those who rush usually end up there faster..
Ah... Those type A's, what can I say?

By staying back for the extra minute, and allowing the crowd to roll out, normally ends up in you enjoying the whole experience that much more. When I go to the theater, which I do often, I try to hang back for a minute and allow the crowd to exit. Considering my girlfriend and I had probably had not spoken in over two hours, we normally say what we thought of the film.

I have always been the type to be in a hurry where ever I go, but I find in the last year or so I have realized that I'm only missing out by being in a hurry. I always thought that if I were in a hurry, I would experience more. I was in a hurry to get to class, in a hurry to get out of class, in a hurry to get a shower and go out. For what?

Nowadays I give ample time to make it to my classes, I sit back and enjoy my classes, and my showers are more than relaxing.

Like our members said, It's all about the little things.