Driving with Massholes

This fall, I did a lot of driving to get to work at Brandeis University, where I built a set for their fall production. (More to come on that show!) My commute was 11 miles and took about an hour, since I had pretty standard hours.

The first week, I used my GPS and tried several different routes. From Somerville to Waltham, there's a few options. Route 90-- the Mass Pike-- is the first and fastest, but it can be cutthroat at 8am and 5pm. Not to mention the tolls. Then there's route 93 north to 95 south into Waltham, also a quick drive-- but going north to go south irks me, and it's dangerously packed on those roads during rush hours, both morning and evening. For a while I took rt. 16 to rt. 3 to 95 south, through Cambridge, and that went okay. Finally I decided on rt. 16 to rt. 20 into Waltham-- a straight line sort of route, but through several towns. I found the traffic patterns more interesting for a drive I had to do twice a day, 5 days a week, for 8 weeks. I'm also glad I chose that route because I feel a lot more familiar with Watertown and Allston and Cambridge than I would have been had I avoided the stoplights and gone on a major highway instead.

I learned a lot about driving and I'd say my driving skills improved exponentially. I have some theories about driving in Boston and why it is so scary and confusing: it's all about the intersections. Because the city has never had a renovation of the road system, the roads are based on windy paths from the days of old. Any major intersection has some quirks, like extra turn lanes, or having 5 roads meet up in haphazard ways, or double roundabouts. Then you get the combination of people used to driving on this crazy setup and people who have no idea where they're going, and impatience builds quickly. I don't think Massachusetts drivers are any worse than drivers elsewhere (in fact, the only location I'd judge drivers for being from is Quebec: what the hell do they teach up there?) but given the roads and especially the intersections and one-ways that MA drivers deal with, they seem like lunatics everywhere else.

Being a Masshole isn't a good thing, as much as some people take pride in being a jerk on the road. People forget that safety is important when you're in control of a large, fast-moving, heavy metal machine: both their own safety and that of others. People sit in their car where they feel immortal and feel like it's okay to be an asshole, when really they would never do or say stuff like that outside of the car. And often, I've found, people aren't even trying to be jerks. They make a bad judgement call; they aren't paying attention; they don't know all the rules of the road (which is inexcusable, it's true); they're just trying to get somewhere and feel on the defensive. I've come to a very zen place inside my car, even when I'm running late. Being  patient and kind-- though not kind to the point of endangering people by stopping too short or holding up the flow of traffic-- goes a long way for my own sense of well-being, and sure doesn't hurt the rest of the world on the road.