Traffic Jam

I used to think it was hilarious that my dad lived in a town with only one traffic light. I marveled at the fact that I could take a trip to the store and encounter less than ten people on the journey to and fro and I couldn't understand how anyone could stand living in a small town with so little activity. Little did I know that one day I'd move to a zero traffic light town and that my perspective would change so drastically. Westport, Washington is not nearly as tiny as I once supposed, and Wenatchee is practically a booming metropolis. Adam and I have grown so accustomed to the lack of traffic in this town that when we have to wait at a stop sign for two or three cars to pass we joke that we've just experienced a traffic jam. Now, the feeling I experience when driving in Wenatchee is not dissimilar to the feelings I have when I cross over the Cascades into Seattle.

Here in Waterville people tend to go out of their way to be courteous, allowing others to go first, even if it causes a two or three-way standstill. Drivers will stop for a single pedestrian even if they're the only vehicle within miles and even if it would be more time-efficient to proceed and allow the pedestrian to cross after. In Wenatchee, sometimes it feels like pedestrian is a four-letter word. People take their lives in their hands when they grab that little orange flag and step off the curb. On the Sellar bridge, it's every man for himself; don't you dare get in the way, and good luck getting out of a parking lot on North Wenatchee Avenue during rush hour! I realize I'm beginning to sound a little like an old codger musing about the "old days." I guess living up here is a little like a time-warp, but that's another article altogether.