Keller @ Large: How To Kill Time In Holiday Traffic
BOSTON (CBS) - Since this commentary is written in advance, I can only guess at the volume of traffic you may be encountering right now as you make your way to your Thanksgiving destination.
I hope it's light, I really do, but I suspect otherwise.
Listen to Jon's commentary:
Podcast
So instead of just sitting there fuming as you inch along, let's put this time to creative use, shall we?
For starters, let's think about the emphatic e-mails we might send to our elected representatives demanding that they do something about the completely inadequate toll plazas along the Mass. Turnpike.
Even on a day with less volume than today, the Sturbridge exit and the Weston tolls tend to quickly back up because they are not large enough to handle the load.
It is especially frustrating to invest in a Fast Lane pass but be unable to get any benefit from it because the fast lanes are quickly blocked by non-fast lane traffic.
The Hampton tolls, with their open-road lanes that are hardly ever blocked, are the role model for what Massachusetts needs to do, but unless we make an issue of it, will it ever happen?
If in fact you are crawling along today, this is not an issue, but I'm wondering - do driving schools still teach what they taught in my day: that if you can read the license plate of the car ahead of you, you're too close to stop in time in an emergency and need to back off?
I suspect they do not, based on the proliferation of tailgaters I encounter.
When it happens, I try to teach them a valuable lesson by slowing down to the point where they have to get off my bumper and pass me, and at least some of them seem to appreciate it, the ones who signal as they pass that they think I'm number one.
Another thing to ponder as you fume -- are you idling in traffic right now near the site of a future casino?
I can assure you just about every owner of open land off the highway you're stuck on is dreaming of selling it off to a casino developer, now that casino hunting season has officially opened.
And just think - if they build it in that wooded area where you're stuck right now, a few years down the road you could just pull off right here and celebrate a Thanksgiving meal the Puritans never dreamed of - with a side of chips and slots.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
