Three years ago, I was working as a student in a factory in Aurora. This meant a one and half hour commute in rush hour traffic. This wasn't necessarily a big deal until one day I noticed a vehicle pull on to the highway somewhere in Ajax. A woman; say in her forties driving a silver Chrysler minivan, sipping on a cup of coffee. It turns out this was the third day in a row that I had seen her driving from the same on-ramp, drinking coffee from the same mug each time. The next day, I left home 15 minutes later so I would not see her again. On Friday, I took a different route to work. Today I live 10 minutes from work, get to work at 5:30 am and leave after rush hour.I coined the term zombie city after my third sighting of this woman, life in metropolitan cities is terribly routine if not programmed by some unseen force devoid of life. The intensity of boredom that can plague the average commuter adds years to their age. If you run out of CD's or the DJ on the radio decides to suck, you are guaranteed a rather unpleasant trip. My zombie theory would seem more appropriate in city like Lagos but if you've ever been in Lagos traffic, you know its far more exciting than the average western hemisphere traffic jam. Its more of a chaotic symphony, too many things are taking place but somehow it all blends in together, everyone knows their place and some academics even try to model it.
A real life experience -
Toronto, Canada - 1hr 45minutes in traffic, changed radio stations 4 maybe 5 times, argued with passengers about the model year of some vintage car we spotted, mostly bitching about the traffic. Got home, tired, drove to the grocery store to do some shopping, threw some crap on the stove for a makeshift dinner. Total time to get some rest - 2hrs 45minutes
Lagos, Nigeria - 2hrs in traffic. Radio didn’t work, complained about the failed government systems, argued about soccer legends, bought a watch (turned out to be fake), my aunt bought some used clothes for her driver's children, got minutes for her phone and did grocery shopping (tomatoes, onions, oil, yam, eggs, moi-moi), saw a fight between a bus conductor and a guy I think was a passenger, every 10 minutes the driver cursed at other motorists, bitched about traffic and looked out for robbers. Got home, tired, stomach filled with bread, moi-moi, kilichi & fanta. Two hours flat!
Now I hated being in both traffic jams but I always appreciate mixing things up a little. Lagos was rowdy and a bit scary, the drivers definitely aint no zombies, they create new lanes, jump into opposing traffic lanes and muscle their way in and out of tight spots.
If you haven't guessed why i wrote this story.... I got stuck in traffic today!
1 comment:
Oh Lagos traffic! Got to love it, the thrills of disorder, something you'd like to be told about but not experience personally....if you know what I mean.
You want to talk about traffic, go to Buffalo on the weekend and head towards the border at 8pm! The Lewiston highway was covered with Ontario plated cars on sunday, at a point in time the cars didn't even move, we utilized all the resources the radio sucked, we'd played all the CDs, eaten all the junk that was meant to keep us awake and then looking at all the empty spaces where goods could have been sold it dawned on me, I MISS LAGOS
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