Seventeen Months

  

 (MNDOT photo from the googles)

Seventeen months.  That was a good run.  Seventeen months of easy going carefree rush hour commute; the Covid commute.  In April of 2020, government shut down businesses for the Covid19 pandemic.  “Essential” workers had the freeway system all to ourselves.  It was quite strange not riding the brake pedal, stop and go fashion while creeping along at 20 miles per hour on the freeway.  The lanes were virtually empty!   No more accidents, people did not fall off the freeways.  It was awesome!
 
Admittedly, there were issues at first.  Just like kids let loose at the opening gates at the amusement park; traffic was pretty chaotic in those early days of the pandemic.  Speed limits were ignored.  In the first few weeks, lanes changes were made abruptly and without warning.  Traffic weaved in an out with each other across all lanes.  Some fell off the freeways.  Others had a horrific meet and greet.  Oddly enough, there lacked a highway patrol presence as the chaos unfolded.  It was getting out of hand.
 
On about the third month into our pace care-free rush hour commute, we covid commuters fell into a NASCAR groove.  We all lined up in the left lane drafting each other in a seamless pack.  Right lanes were for entering and exiting to merge into the middle or left lanes to join the NASCAR draft.  Merging traffic speeds matched that of the covid NASCAR drivers.  Exiting, nobody slowed down in the right freeway lane.  Nobody fell off the freeway system.  Traffic flowed quite smoothly at an average of ten mile over posted limits.  My 45 minute commute was reduced to hassle free 15 minutes.  It was even more awesome!
 
But now workers are coming back into the office.  Traffic is building.  We’re now stuck behind timid drivers entering the freeway system right lane 15 to 20 miles per hour below posted.  Some of these halfwit dullards merge to the left lane keeping pace car speeds under the posted speed limit.  These Citiots drive like speed limit vigilantes in their own small world oblivious to surrounding vehicles.  We’re back to slack jawed yokels riding the brakes - slowing down in the right lane to exit.  More accidents are occurring, and more are falling off the freeway.  Ugh, I miss my Covid NASCAR commute.