Iowa is known for producing hogs and you are probably aware of several sayings involving them. This morning at about 7:50 a.m. a whole herd of cars did their best impression of hogs on ice.
It was a sad and frustrating display. The cars even did their best squeeling impressions by slamming on the footfeed and then their brakes as they went in every direction other than forward. I belive "grunting" would be a nice way to interpret the sounds inside the cars as people made faces and gestures of frustration.
We were stopped near the crest of the hill by the stoplight and when it turned green again the huge passenger van in front of us started moving--but not in the correct direction. It slid backwards, sideways, nearly into the next lane, etc., all without bothering to turn on its hazards. An attempt to go around the large van ended up with us taking a rather uncomfortable slide to the side. Thanks to a minivan that was a little to close behind me I gave up trying to move. The lane to the right continued to move through three or so more lights and then a little black Toyota gummed it up.
A cop showed up asked each car if we could move and then left to take care of some accidents. Ten minutes or so ticked by along with several Cy-Ride buses along a route that runs right by our office (tried to get Tony to walk up and catch a bus, but he wouldn't). Frustrated, I called 911 and they said that the city had a load of salt and sand on the way. Passing along information seemed to calm the driver of the little black Toyota (he wanted us to try and turn around so he could get out).
Meanwhile the traffic continued to pile up down the hill. We collected several compact cars, a school bus, and other miscellanious vehicles all the way to the bottom of the very long hill. Every now and then someone would make a well calculated run and go around us all when there was a green light.
After waiting for about 20 minutes a city truck lurched around the corner and drove VERY close to us flinging sand and salt. Figuring it was a now or never moment, I slid the shifter into drive and putted right on up the hill.
To think, just a little sand and salt thrown out would have saved so many piggies--I mean, people--so much time.
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2 comments:
I thought you were writing about today and then realized it was yesterday! What?!?!
You make a very frustrating-sounding experience so funny!
Oh my! You have such a way with words...I don't think I'll ever think of traffic "snarls" in the same light again. :)
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