Posted by William Edwards Deming.
I was driving around the area yesterday, and it sucked. Five o'clock Friday traffic, and the rainy weather.
My first point of complaint is the weather. It had just stopped raining, and the sun was just starting to shine. With me driving west, that meant that there was a thin gloss of water on the road to perfectly reflect the sun that was already shining in my eyes. It was so bad I couldn't drive without holding my hand in front of my face, and it was physically painful even still.
Top that off with the rush hour traffic. Traffic has always been very interesting to me. Something about the interaction between people on such a large scale fascinates me, and being a topic of such interest, I become very frustrated when everything fucks up. The fact that millions of dollars was put into the highway as a system of ensuring that I can keep traveling at high speed; when I come to a complete stop on the freeway, in the fast lane, for no less time than a minute, I'm overcome with a feeling of defeat, like something (or several things) in my life has gone horribly wrong, and now here I sit, my delicate temporal planning shattered. These traffic jams aren't caused by an accident, either. It's mostly that people don't know what they're doing and can't get it together that causes them to slow down. Basically, everyone is ruining everyone and, interesting though it is (and it is interesting), I hate being a part of it.
So next time you're on the road, remember, keep the big picture in mind, and be courteous to your fellow driver.
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