My Own Hero

I complained about traffic yesterday and I could literally write for hours about how bad drivers are in this town.  Then again, even thinking about it is enough to set me off and was a major reason why we moved out of here 6 years ago.

The highway I drive everyday to and from work is finally being widened after 25+ years of complaining and 'government planning' (oh, and 300 or so deaths... hello?).  It's an annoying highway in that it starts at one end with an ultra-modern bridge 4-lanes wide that then merges almost immediately after a traffic signal.  That means that half the drivers figure they can drive on the shoulder of the road in order to get ahead of you --even though you're being an asshole like everyone and are now doing 30+ km/h over the speed limit to stop the assholes from getting ahead of you.  Why?  Because we all do the same thing for the 10 km of one lane driving:  Do less than the speed limit.

But that's not even what I'm writing about.  Neither is this, but I'm getting there...

So, they're widening the roadway and it took them 6 months to pile dirt beside the highway in order to ensure whenever there was another accident, the vehicles had nowhere to go except into oncoming vehicles.  So, since the dirt's been piled there's only been an accident every other week.  

The dirt's lower, but that means paving is coming soon and with paving come delays.  So, people start to take side roads and lo and behold the city has decided it's the best time of year to clean out the ditches.  And the cable company has opted for this month to be the month they redo the cables along the side roads.  The telephone company opts to work on their lines... as does the hydro company.  Yep, every 20 feet there's another vehicle pulled to the side of the road making this conspiracy add 30-40 minutes to the already-bothersome commute.

So, I decided to start going further west to get to my job on the east side of town.  Good plan, yes?

Oh, great plan.  Yeah, give me 15 extra minutes because of lights and problems, right?  Wrong.  The 2nd light I get to, idiot boy with the mullet is carrying a camper on his truck.  Spins out leaving the intersection (very slippery roads as there was a quick storm blow through this morning and although he makes it through the intersection, the camper stays in
the middle of the intersection, blocking 1 northbound lane, 1 southbound lane and one westbound lane.  Way to go, loser.  I'm giving my statement to the police and mullet-boy is yelling at me saying he wasn't spinning "nothing".  Ugh.  I yell at him to shut up and get off the roadway.  I hand my business card to the officer and he chuckles.  He asks me if I yell a lot at work... Why yes, officer.  I do.

I leave the accident and head to work, now less than 40 minutes to go (I had planned on working out beforehand, but alas...).  I skip 2 blocks east in anticipation of getting around the mall just before the lunch crowds converge.  I'm sitting at the intersection when... a lady making a left in front of me runs over a pedestrian.

So, I'm out dialling 911 while using my first aid skills (oh yeah, I'm certified, baby!) on this 70-year old man who is going into shock.  I let the dispatcher know what's happening and where we are.  Meanwhile, the lady who was driving the car is yelling at me to let the man get up because "he's fine."  o I start yelling at her to sit in her car and wait for the police to arrive.  Fortunately, she does, but when the police officer (one from the previous accident no less) arrives, I'm yelling at her again because she's still insisting that this man is fine.  The ambulance arrives and they take over first aid on the poor guy and I'm still yelling at the woman.  I give my statement to the police officer (who called me by name when he was ready --kind of embarrassing in a way) and the only real questions he has for me are:
1 - Am I going straight to work?
2 - When am I off (so he hopefully doesn't have to deal with me later today)?

Fortunately, the rest of the drive is uneventful, but my 'detour' to save time took me an extra 95 minutes today.

I hate this town.