The scenery is here, wish you were beautiful

One of the things I noticed about the long Memorial Day weekend is how nice it is around here when one-third of the people are out of town. Traffic flows more easily, there are parking spaces, the lines are not as long and there is just a little more room to breathe.
In this part of the world, people started running for the beach at 3 o'clock on Friday afternoon and didn't come back until late in the day on Monday. It was a glorious weekend without the congestion that life in the suburbs brings. I don't know exactly where they go, and frankly I don't care. As long as there is more available space for me and the others who are left here, I'm all for it.
JERRY: No, wait a minute, Newman! You can't let this dream die. You moving away is my dream too!
NEWMAN: What are you proposing?
JERRY: Whatever it takes, for as long as it takes me, wherever it takes me as long as it takes you away from me!
I have this odd image in my head of this great weight being dropped on the shore towns as the rush of shoobies flows in. If I lived in one of those towns, I would start popping the darvocet's on Thursday to build up my resistance. The shore rush is an annual event, and every year there are more people jamming the same roads they jammed ten years ago, making each year's traffic onslaught worse than the previous one.
Monday night's news was full of helicopter shots of jammed bridges, roads and tunnels with all the people who couldn't wait to get the Hell out of here, coming back. This morning, the roads were jammed again. Cars were backed up for 6 miles on their way to Philadelphia to start their short work week before they head off to the shore again on Friday afternoon. Fortunately for me, I go the opposite direction. There's a metaphor there, somewhere I think.
So welcome back, shoobies. I hate to tell you, folks; but it was better without you.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I drove home and man traffic sucked but it was moving so that was a bonus. I didn't get a ticket or anything....yeah!!
May 29, 2007 at 6:40 PM
Ladyred said…
And now that I can call myself a local at the beach, I find myself trying to drive back to the beach from school/work/whatnot so I don't have to put up with that traffic. It's horrible. One way in/out, it is 55mph, yet you either have the Sunday drivers (when it's not Sunday) or the speed demons who are bound and determined to have an accident (and they most always do) that tie up damn traffic. I know there are people on vacation yadda yadda, but I simply want to get on and off this island in the fastest way possible. THis weekend was the starter of the accidents on the only road in/out. In the middle of the day. And all weekend there were ambulances blaring their sireenes. That's how I know it's the start of summer......
Holy shitake.....I haven't heard the term "shoobies" in soooooo long (I used to live in South Jersey).
May 29, 2007 at 11:14 PM
Sparky Duck said…
damn, and i was always calling em shoebees.

I think it was brillant to close part of the AC expressway for construction on Monday night, gotta love NJ
May 30, 2007 at 12:22 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday Thirteen v.3

Image
Thirteen Little Quirks Don't Judge 1. Shaking Hands. I'm starting to get a little goofy about shaking hands. When a stranger shakes my hand, I am uneasy until I can find a chance to wash. 2. Door Handles. Likewise. I usually grip the handle someplace where I think others aren't. When I can, I push with my elbow or closed fist. I don't get sick much, either. 3. I trim my underarm hair. I think that's good for everyone involved. 4. Change . I almost never use change. If something is $1.01 and I have a nickel, they're not getting it. Take a penny, leave a penny? Go ahead, I have a change jar to maintain. 5. Penmanship and spelling. A high priority. If you saw my handwriting, you would know what I mean. Strangers compliment me on it. I look at it as both artwork and a courtesy to the people I'm communicating with that they can read and comprehend whan I'm doing. The downside is that I can never get away with anything based on not being able to read my handw...
Read more

Check, please!

Image
My weekly supermarket trip is generally odd enough to support a blog of its own, but God (and Bill O'Reilly) knows I don't need something else to do. Last night, I'm standing in line with my usual assortment of odd items, when I see the woman in front of me hesitate for a moment. The cashier had told her that her order came to $124.25, and this caused the woman to ponder, "I want to make this check out so that I get cash back. What's the limit?" That's right - the check . Of course, the cashier didn't know, because ... c'mon, who writes checks to begin with? She turned to a co-worker and asked. The response came back that the limit was $30. The woman was relieved, for some unknown reason. She said she needed more than $25. She looked at the total again, and then started to make out the check. "Is it OK if I make this out for $150 even ? I need a little extra." Which, actually is a question and a statament, but I digress. She proce...
Read more

Thursday Thirteen v.7

Image
Thirteen Things That Scare Me a Little The Christmas decorations are up at the local mall, but never mind that. Tuesday is Hallowe'en. 1. Any letter from my Condo Association. It makes my heart skip a beat. Usually it's something really stupid that I'm not doing. Tell the people who are doing it and leave me alone. 2. Spam e-mail with T.M.I. I recently got a Spam message that contained my first and last name, from a Landon Nicholson (no relation) telling me that "Your history shows that your Viagra prescription is ready to be re-filled." Uh-huh. My personal history shows that I need Viagra like I need a hair dryer and a comb. 3. When the Boss says, "You got a minute?" He never calls me in to chit-chat. 4. Dying alone. I don't need to elaborate on that, except to say that if I needed Viagra, I wouldn't be worried about it. 5. George W. Bush with his hand on the Bible. I keep waiting for it to burst into flames . 6. My spin instructo...
Read more