Those
of you that know me, know that is not a question that I encounter in my daily
life. Those of you that have yet to get to know me you know by my svelte build
that is not a common query. But that question really isn’t the story, it is
what was going on around me when that question was asked which is of interest. The
fact that the question was even asked by a complete stranger adds a little
color to my long Friday commute.
I
started my morning right on time to make it to the office well before a 9:00 am
call. Having had to work from home the day before, the day was going to be
pretty hectic as I tried to make up for what was a less than optimal day of
production. The roads weren’t too bad with only a few slightly slick spots here
and there, the occasional rumble strip of snow and ice, and a sun glare that
gradually got worse as the minutes went by. With the sun directly in my eyes
about five miles from the office I increased the gap between me and the car in
front of me and reduced my speed to about 40 miles per hour. And I am really
glad I did.
Without
any warning traffic came to a dead stop and I slammed on the brakes. As the
antilock brakes pumped I could hear the crunching of cars ahead of me. Thankfully,
I took the precautions I did and I safely came to rest about three feet from
the car in front of me (the car behind me did the same). So we all sat there
for the next five minutes with our cars still running and brake lights on.
It
was only a few minutes later when the reports began filling the radio and we
all knew that we were going to be there for a while. Like dominos, cars were
put into park, engines were turned off, and we all settled down for a long
delay. Thirty minutes to go before my call and I knew that I would be dialing
in from the car so I sent a few text messages to the office, my family, and my
wife letting them know that I was fine but that I wasn’t going to get to the
office any time soon.
Before
I knew it, it was time to dial into the conference call. Surprisingly enough,
this may have been the first time that I have had to be on a conference call
from the car. Having now done it once, I can say that I am not a big fan and I
will continue doing my best to avoid it in the future. By the time I got off
the phone we were all sitting in the same spot and we all knew the extent of
the backup as opposing traffic had now ceased and emergency vehicles were
driving back and forth assessing the damage and looking for anyone else who
might need assistance.
By
11:00 am we were all walking around the highway chatting and getting to know
other people who are now sharing a common inconvenient experience. After all,
we all knew how much worse it could have been for us. We could have easily been
the ones in the 100 car pileup just a half mile ahead. So, while we were all a
bit grumpy (especially those of us who were without coffee) we were all, at
least most of us, were just trying to make the best out of things.
Not
long after that, the kindness of strangers began showing itself. What began
with bottles of water being handed which was appreciated, soon gave way to a
woman in the far right lane passing out cupcakes which would no longer be
consumed at work and the aroma of coffee being replenished in travel mugs. Our new
found calm only made the morning pass a bit faster and made us all just a
little bit friendlier.
Around
noon we all seemed to return to our cars. Not because of any anticipation of
traffic beginning to free up it was a strange unified time when everyone
decided to make phone calls. I guess another benefit to this whole dilemma besides
forcing everyone to just stop and try and find the positive to the situation
was the fact that we could catch up on some long overdue phone calls. While I
wasn’t able to dial everyone, I did manage to catch up with a few people with
whom I had not spoken to in some time.
It
was during these phone calls when a man came walking down the highway, stopping
at every car, and asking us if we wanted a cheeseburger. Not many of us passed
up the kind offer which led to his next question, “Wendy’s or McDonald’s?” Not
much difference between the two so I arbitrarily chose Wendy’s. 1:00 pm and
lunch was served.
The
next hour when quickly and before I knew it I was on another conference call.
As we discussed the difficulties of my commute I could hear the wave of car
engines turning on roll up the highway (the only exceptions beyond the accident
scenes being those who ran out of gas or had dead batteries). As we slowly
formed a single file line and slalomed back and forth across the lanes between
accident scenes, I pointed my phone from atop the steering wheel and captured
some random pictures of what had caused the delay which had all of us parked on
the highway for the past 6 hours.
Around
2:30 pm, I arrived at the office and, contrary to what many people would think,
I wasn’t really in a bad mood. Of course, my day was wasted and I have to make
up some work this weekend but I was still in one piece and I was able to
witness, first hand, how people come together when put in a situation that they
really can’t change. However, I am now painfully aware that I need to stop by
the store sometime soon and pick up some MRE’s to make these situations a bit
easier. Might be worth adding a few other preps. You never know.
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