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May 31, 2006
It's Nice When Things Make Sense
Sadly, this isn't one of those times. On the bus ride into Harvard Square this morning, we were doing fine until we reached Point A on the map at left. Here, there was a massive backup on JFK Street, to the point where there was actal gridlock, blocking the cars on Memorial Drive. We waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, after a light-cycle and a half, we crawled forward enough to reach Point B, where the left lane disappeared and everyone had to merge. Here's where the bus driver thankfully let people out, so the rest of the story continues on foot.
Points C and D are adjacent in real life. Let's make C stand for Cop, and D stand for Ditch In the Road. Now that traffic's in one lane and moving along okay, C is waving cars through (which, frankly, let's give him credit for, since most detail cops are more likely to be smoking butts, drinking iced coffee, and talking to the construction workers than making even a half-hearted and superfluous attempt to move traffic along). And, I'll admit, it's good he's there. Since only the savviest of drivers would note a long line of orange cones, the presence of heavy earthmoving equipment, and a freaking ditch in the road, and make the mental leap to think "There's a ditch in the road".
Now, I know how things work in this state. I know somewhere, there's a perfectly good reason why it has to be a cop standing there, waving along cars that are already moving, as opposed to a civilian. Or a scarecrow. Or a cardboard cutout of Grimace. Or an orange barrel. And I know there's a perfectly sound explanation why the cop couldn't relocate to the corner of Memorial Drive, to help with the traffic that's actually stuck. (I honestly think cars would be careening into the ditch if he weren't there.)
But I know that asking any questions of this sort will probably get me pulled over and possibly detained as an enemy combatant. So, nice work, everyone. Nice work.
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Comments
Hee hee. Jon was right. This is funny. :D
Great seeing you both last week. Good times!
Posted by: Abby | June 4, 2006 12:25 PM
