tulsa drivers...every man for himself

I wrote this back in February after being stuck in an awful traffic-jam on my drive to work... Seriously do I sound dra-ma-tic or what!


"The drive to work in the morning can be described as “survival of the fittest.” It is an “every man for himself” world out on the Tulsa highways as its inhabitants venture out of their humble abodes and hit the highways on their way to their respective jobs, schools, etc.
Drivers act as if they are bitter rivals, each one trying to one up the other by weaving in and out of and around traffic, cutting off anyone and everyone that gets in their way. Some drivers will do whatever it takes to “win” the highway; whether it is riding the car in front’s tail or riding the shoulder lane until the last second. Tuesday was like any ol’ Tulsa day. The Ford truck next to me was impatiently revving his engine at the little car in front of him that was moving at a slow 65 mph pace. On my other side a car was riding the side lane to get in front of slow-moving traffic…of course I let him in and of course he did not give the courtesy wave. [Tulsa drivers, and drivers all over…if you must must must cut in front of others, at least give the courtesy wave! If you don’t give me one, I’ll give a “you’re welcome” wave anyways…as if you are even looking back, because your lack of concern to give the initial wave shows a lot about your character. ]

Anyways…Tuesday.
Tuesday traffic was moving along quite smoothly on 169…I even checked my clock 3 times while driving, because the lack of traffic made me think that I was somehow not driving during the morning rush hour. I merged easily on to the BA and was getting excited that I would be early to work, and then the red lights hit me like a brick wall.
Now, the BA is known to have traffic build-ups on the way to work, so I was optimistic during the break and go flow of traffic. And then the world stopped. Ok, the world didn’t stop, but my car stopped. Meaning my foot was on the break, and it wasn’t moving any time soon. Meaning, there must be a wreck or some kind of catastrophic event happing somewhere on the BA, meaning I was not going to be early in to work after all.

And that’s when it happened. As I, and everyone else going WB on the BA sat at a standstill for 15…20…40 minutes, the rivalry between the drivers lifted.
Drivers, who were rivals just minutes before, suddenly shared a common bond. We were stuck, and there was nothing we could do about it.
As we sat there for 40+ minutes, drivers who were once enemies now became friends as each car had to let the other one in from their respective lanes.
For those 40+ minutes, we weren’t in a race to win…we weren’t cutting each other off without a single courtesy wave. No, for those 40+ minutes at a standstill, we were no longer enemies…we were friends.

As we reached the accident site, and passed into the wide open highway streets, we had a newfound respect for one another. That lasted for about 2 seconds until the Ford next to me once again revved his engine at the car in front of him, and I was cut off without a single courtesy wave."

sparkles, je t'aime

To quote a line from a movie with a creepy kid... "I'm baaaaackkkk!" Honestly, I dont really know if it is from a movie, but whatever!

To celebrate my entrance back into the world of blog writing, I just want to post one of my most favorite sparkly things in the entire world... La Tour Eiffel!

This picture is from my 2008 trip to Paris. There is nothing more exciting than standing in front of the Eiffel Tower at nighttime when the entire tower lights up and sparkles! It is an experience I will remember forever...there were yells and gasps of delight when the grand tower began to sparkle on that wonderful Parisian night! I urge everyone to take a trip to Paris and experience the sparkling of the Eiffel Tower...such a breathtaking sight to see!