How A Traffic Jam Can Make You Into A Better Person

When the car was invented people saw that it was a good way to move from A to B. It would no longer take three hours to get to the bakery in the next village. Instead, you'd be there within half an hour. Life was good. The world became a better place. The future was bright. At least until too many people came to this realization ...

Now, you tend to be stuck in traffic because too many people want to go to the fancy bakery or just home. We all know that sitting in a traffic jam is the most uncomfortable feeling imaginable. It goes against the very nature of the car. It was meant to move us forward. Now it doesn't move us anywhere at all.

A very usual traffic jam on Vienna's A23 - fondly called "Austria's biggest parking lot"

By the timing for writing, I have been in traffic jams in four countries, and most of the time in Stuttgart and Vienna. This comes to no surprise because both rate very high in the list of cities with traffic james. Thus, over my road tripping times, I developed some tools to cope with this phenomenon because once you are stuck ... you are stuck.

traffic jam in Stuttgart? It's more likely than you think

"Maybe I could try reading a book!" you might be thinking. Of course, drifting into the paper-y world sounds like a fine idea. However, once you're in there you forget the world around you. Suddenly, you would not be paying attention to the car in front moving an inch. Instead you would be thinking about the word "waffle." Noticing that someone in the queue had moved and you hadn't, would result in a horn being blowing and consequently a book falling down. This would lead to profanities from all persons involved.

So obviously you are thinking about your phone next. Technically, you would not use it while driving because in order to drive your wheels should move ever so slightly. You can stream the world and the universe onto your phone but sadly it would be rather unsatisfying. After all, there is no decent place to put the phone in a car, and it would fall over. Then the sound would be horrible. Plus, mobile data does not grow on trees and neither does the money with which you pay for it.

Still, I am convinced that there is something hidden behind that idea! Despite old people's arguments the phone does not make us more anti-social. I can congratulate someone on a pretty beach photo and send photos of my cats around the world. More importantly, I can contact people who are miles away.

The only problem is that if you're in a traffic jam it suddenly becomes the only thing you are ever able to talk about. It becomes an all consuming thing, and you're unable to talk about anything else! Hence the conversation with your friend would be cut short because they'd became fed up with hearing about traffic jams ...

So then you are stuck on the road, motionless, annoyed, friendless, and alone. Thus, the only option left is to find peace within yourself:

It is time to channel your mental powers and bring yourself into a state where the body is there but the mind is in another world all together. This way, one can discover places never been to before, create stories and re-live memories. It calms mind and body, and brings calmness. This way your body can be in the car, slowly moving it forward inch by inch while your mind is sitting calmly on a beach.

This is also a skill vital to some parts of your adult life. After all, you are going to find yourself in situations that you can't change by blasting a horn. Thus, you might as well make the best of it ad remember the open road that lies ahead of the traffic jam.

Thus, I conclude that traffic jams are the perfect way to shape yourself into a more patient and calmer person. And as Maya Angelou stated

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude."

And also: Happy April's Fool Day :)