The Empty Road...

There’s a degree of importance you feel crossing over the George Washington Bridge at night. It’s enormous size, millions of lights, and winding & welding construction are captivating, if not distracting. Unfortunately, it’s nothing like this in the morning.

Morning rush hour to be exact, is a time of cutthroat defensive driving techniques, speeding, and passing fellow jersey-ites making their way to the toll. I assume New York bound on the GWB has always been the same stressful traffic challenge its been since I started embarking on it June 2008. Once I enter the end of the 95 tarmac and start passing the very last exits before reaching the bridge is when back-up rushes in. See the trick is, ride all the way on the left lane, sure it's far from where you need to be (the right lane) but it moves the quickest and nothing is worse than the brake-gas-brake-gas-brake-gas then stand-still. As soon as you start seeing the tall mountains of rocks that the early builders and construction workers had to implode through to create this helpful road we’d be lost without, you see the sign. Oh that deadly sign where you know just how late you’re going to be. I’ve seen that sign read 'Lower to I95 NY Approx 70 Min' and even better, can you imagine how fast I dialed my manager when I saw 'Lower to I95 NY Approx 120 Min'? What the hell could be going on up there!

The importance of the GWB traffic in the past does not compare to what it is now. Maybe it’s the layoffs, the bad economy, people not paying their car leases, either way something’s wrong. The worst of it seemed to begin last December and escalate largely in February 2009. The problem was, there was no traffic. Where did everybody go? At first while you’re driving seeing the open road was like starting every work day with a smile on, being able to take 10 minutes to choose what kind of breakfast you’d like to have, and maybe even get to skim a few newspapers to the point where you didn’t even need to buy one. Before you know it you’re the first one at the office getting all those tasks done at hand before the clock even began.

Sure it was nice, not having to attempt to trick people with my blinker as I cut them off with the front of my car. But you can’t help feel sorry a little bit. I wonder what they were doing now. Sitting home… trying to figure out how they were going to pay their bills… what other kind of job they can step down to… or what they are going to do about their house, their investment, their life…

I can’t do much for all those other people that I used to ride beside every morning, even the nice ones who let me squeeze in front of them during my hike across three lanes that I had to accomplish within a distance of less than 20 feet in order to make it to my exit (the very last one before entering the GWB). But I just want all those people to know, as much as they ruined my mornings as I’d repeat to myself “I hate my life, I hate my life, I hate my life,” I would not mind if they came back. I've been in the same seat as them and know the hell they went through to get to work every morning. No excuse, not even the fact that our economy is in the pits, should make us selfish and revel in the depression and succession of others. Dear fellow GWB New York bound drivers, I hope one day we can be together again.

Sincerely,

Girl with the Tan 1995 Honda with two dents on each side