Monday 18 July 2011

CARMAGEDDON


“Carmageddon” was supposed to happen this weekend. For those of you not in Southern California, the 405 freeway – which is one of the nation’s busiest freeways - was shut down for what was supposed to be three days of extensive work on a ten-mile stretch of the freeway. Work was expected to keep it closed for 53 hours, opening at 5a.m Monday morning. Just in time for rush hour. Happy Monday everyone!

As you can imagine, news of this closure sent Los Angeles into a tailspin – and as expected the media followed suit. Who am I kidding, the media lead the charge waving banners, inventing catchphrases and inciting fear! Essentially, a normal news day in good ol’ US of A. Hence the term ‘carmageddon.’ Yes, the ever dramatic end of the world as we know it was supposed to happen this past weekend due to a freeway closure and the cessation of car use. The media also termed a portion of the freeway as ‘Ground Zero,’ just to raise the lunacy quotient that much more

They also went around and interviewed people of the city to see how they were going to cope with this impending event. Some people laughed, suggesting that Los Angeles is always an extensive pit of car congestion, hence, what’s one weekend going to do in the grand scheme of things? Other people treated it as the media hoped they would, with ample amounts of fear, frustration and outright panic. Some left town, others stocked up on food, whined, moaned and ran for shelter screaming that the proverbial sky was falling. 

Then there were those individuals that simply looked at it as a chance to stay home, BBQ, see friends, and stay off the roads for one solitary day. On a good note, the number of cars on the road this past weekend dropped by two thirds. A staggering thought in a city defined by its car use. In my opinion I actually think this would be a nice trend for the future – an anti car day. I know the environment would appreciate it, as would all those people out there suffering from road rage. 

As for the King and I, we were celebrating his first birthday in stationary style and the only cars my son was concerned with were the new hot wheels his cousins bought him. The kid loves a fast car. Vroom vroom.


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