Cures For Interstate Ennui

Ah, Memorial Day Weekend. . . the unofficial start of summer. Heading to the beach? Driving to see family? Driving to avoid family? Yeah, you and 313 million of your fellow Americans.

Traffic jamFlickr photo by buzrael

That means traffic–and lots of it! We’ve heard a lot of great ideas over the years for staying sane (and even having fun) while stuck in traffic, from classics like the license plate game, to more creative ideas like packing a whiteboard to write notes to other drivers.

Whether you’re trying to preempt the “Are-we-there-yet?!” back seat chorus, or just trying to keep yourself from throwing a temper tantrum that would give Mel Gibson a run for his money, we want to know…

How are you going to pass the time while you’re stuck in traffic this weekend?

Share your suggestions, and your stories of what’s worked for you, right here.

Yours in staying sane in clogged holiday traffic,


Tom and Ray

Listen to NPR

I need to be reminded that life’s great

That picture looks like everyday traffic in the Baltimore/Washington area. I avoid the interstate if I am not going long distances. If I do have a ways to travel and need to use the interstate, I do it at off hours. Leaving very early works best. Very early is 6:30AM or earlier. Oh, and don’t use I-95 through Virginia. It is a parking lot in both directions between DC and Richmond at almost any time of the day (even 5:30AM) and on any day of the week.

I have over 20 Car Talk podcasts to listen to!

the language is R rated, but Carlin has some good ideas:

There’s not much traffic in southern Minnesota and South Dakota. When will people learn there’s a big world out there outside of the congested cities?

“When will people learn there’s a big world out there outside of the congested cities?”

People in the Big City gotta eat. There’s no way we can do that in your neck of the prairie.

And the high gas prices might make for another quarter of record profits for my gas stocks!

What does “Ennui” mean? This question didn’t come from Tom and Ray did it?

@keith it did come from Tom and Ray

Look at the very bottom of the original posting

@keith

en·nui [ahn-wee, ahn-wee; French ahn-nwee] Show IPA noun a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom: The endless lecture produced an unbearable ennui. Origin: 1660–70; < French: boredom; Old French enui displeasure; see annoy

Synonyms
listlessness, tedium, lassitude, languor.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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