Babyboomers.com

I got home from work a little early last evening and was sitting on the front porch when one of my young neighbors got home. She was stomping around with a very ‘not happy’ face. I asked her what was up and she said, “I’ve been sitting in traffic for 45 minutes.”

I got to thinking that I would sport a permanent scowl if I worried about a 45-minute commute. I live outside Washington, DC and commute between exit 40 and exit 60 on Route 66 (with a mile or so to and from the interstate). My average morning commute is about an hour, and the ride home is about 45 minutes. And that’s suburb to suburb … I actually don’t have to go into the city. (I grabbed the photo above at 2:40 p.m from a live traffic cam feed where I get onto Route 66. I’ll be in that westbound traffic in about two-and-a-half hours.)

According to a 2008 IAC (International Access Corporation) analysis, 128.3 million Americans commute … and more than 75 percent of us go to and from work by ourselves. (http://www.slideshare.net/marcus.bowman.slides/us-commuting-statistical-analysis)

So how do we keep our faces (and our minds) happy 10 times a week? I’ve asked around among folks who commute alone, and most say they rely on their iPods or radios for company. Where it isn’t against the law to talk on their cell phones and drive, loads of people are connected to friends and relatives outside their vehicles.

For myself, the best way to disengage from traffic is to listen to recorded books. Seriously, I’ve been so engrossed in a story that I sat in the driveway or parking lot just to get to a good stopping place. I also have Sirius radio and might listen to comedy or music channels. When I used to ride with my husband, we listened to sports talk radio. On my own, I am an NPR junkie … and that means I just about always have something to discuss at the dinner table.

There is another sport that is somewhat peculiar to Virginia and that is trying to figure out what the heck the license plates say. It costs about $10 extra to purchase a vanity plate and people have gotten really clever with their six to eight allowed characters. I’m not talking about the lame ones that say ‘MY GTO’ or ‘FXYMAMA’ (they’re usually not).

Sometimes you have to take clues from the medallion that tells where the car was purchased, the license plate holder or stickers. This morning I passed WFPKFN … from the NC State sticker on the window, I intuited the plate meant Wolf Pack Fan. Sometimes you never get them. And sometimes they’re easy as pie, like the one on the little red sports car that I see from time to time that says 66 SUCKS. I say amen!

P.S. This would be my plate, but somebody beat me to it.  : )