a very satisfactory morning, indeed

I got stuck behind the Ashley River drawbridge for a solid 30 minutes this morning, and honestly nothing could have made me happier. I love getting stuck behind trains and drawbridges, on ferries, things like that, because I think it is so great the way that people have no choice but to relax. In the first few minutes cars are still running, brake lights are on, necks crane to see how long things are going to take. But then, slowly but surely, people begin to kill their ignitions, roll down their windows, pull out books and newspapers. Some even get out of their cars and stand next to their doors, just for the novel experience of exiting a vehicle on foot in the middle of a crowded interstate. Sometimes I see parents get out with their children and walk to the roadside to watch the bridge rise. It makes me wish that I had someone young with me so that i could get out and watch it too, but at this age I feel like I am no longer allowed to let on that everyday things still leave me in awe sometimes. Everyone knows that no matter what awaits them on the other side, this is a situation that cannot be bypassed with an alternate route, or expedited with horn honks and shouted curses. And most people treat it as a micro-holiday rather than an imposed inconvenience--like being on vacation with one hundred strangers.