Traffic Jam

Yep! It is me again! Of course who do you expect it to be, you are viewing my blog. Not that I’m trying to make my head a little bigger with that idea, on the contrary I want to extend a big thanks to you especially for taking the time to get to this place, even if it is for a few nano seconds. Hmmm nano seconds, I love science people that say that. Men! Is it actually possible for you to be here for nano seconds? I hope not!

I just finished talking to my girlfriend, she went in for an appointment and she’s on her way home and she’s stuck in traffic. Traffic, traffic, traffic, it’s everywhere. Can I ask you a somewhat personal question? I’m sure you are going to shout and say it isn’t nowhere near personal but I’m the one asking here so… Do you love to be in traffic jams? Okay, what about the one for hours where no vehicle is virtually moving, and we’ll at a stand still? I don’t know about you but I hate traffic jams to the very core! I come out of my house wanting to get to where I’m going very early and fast and then I wind up in Ghana traffic. Ok, more like Accra traffic. I asked my girlfriend about the traffic, “why is there so much traffic in Ghana?” Well she’s couldn’t answer it anymore perfectly, “well,” she said, “everyone wants to get a car…” I added, “…and the road are so small, no expansion.” I guess she’s right. Even I recently had a car and I added to that number but then again what is the government there for. Opppps! Hold on a bit, “Edwin, you don’t want to start a political riot.” Yeah that’s right I don’t want to start a political riot here.

You remember I told you I passed the few last months in Abidjan in Cote D’Ivoire. Good! I know you couldn’t forget, otherwise how could you? I trusted you with my words. Yeah right!

The thing with the roads in Abidjan is that there is hardly any traffic jam. Why? There are so many other shortcuts, fly-over more especially. So if there’s a little traffic on road A; I will take road B together with a few other cars and the traffic on A clears. You get the point? Good! One more thing there is that the roads are wide. Most of the major roads are 6 lanes and that’s so good because sometimes you wonder, “Where are all the other cars?” There are always so few cars on the roads. Then I return to my home country and realize that there’s the opposite of everything. Most of the shortcuts and other assess routes are so stuck with traffic. I don’t like sitting in traffic for long. Many other people also don’t like to take other routes because they don’t know them very well. They prefer to be stuck on the well known major roads for hours. So much for wanting to get to school and work on time.

I see this scene almost all the time; a man in black suit stuck in traffic, the sun is so hot, he’s sweating profusely (ok maybe I’m exaggerating a bit with the profusely) but all efforts to clean himself doesn’t do much. There’s an air conditioner in the vehicle but he thinks twice about the high price of fuel and the level of fuel in the vehicle at that moment and doesn’t switch it on. “Fine,” you say, “there’s the window”. Most of the air he’s breathing is exhaust fumes from his own vehicle and others. All this, because of some traffic jam. Oh I sure do hate them. Something has to be done. Oh! And don’t think it doesn’t happen to women, because the illustration is on a man. Well unless you can prove to me that women don’t drive, even if they don’t; It is still the same traffic in the same car and she’s in the passenger’s seat!!! Don’t make me feel like a journalist here but that’s the truth. I wish I could fly a plane anywhere, then again….those fuel hikes… Ok! Ok! I’m not trying to paint a bad picture, but you get the whole deal. Right?

Photo credit:  http://www.sfphotorama.com/