What's Your Driving Style?

Well after having the pleasure of sitting on Freedom Pkwy in downtown Atlanta for about 45 minutes Friday night, I made some very interesting observations about the average driver in stressful situations. I think that the way a person handles themselves in traffic says a lot about who they really are.

Now I understand that none of us LOVE sitting in traffic, and it can be a fairly easy situation in which to become more irritable than normal, but what is it about waiting that makes people lose their minds (and for those of you who know me, I am NOT excluding myself from this category).

Here are a few of my favorite traffic personalities:

- The Finger Thrower: We all know this pompous driver a little too well. They present themselves anywhere that a green light is being sat at. Whether they are throwing the finger at you for sitting at the light or sitting at the light and getting honked at. These guys universally accomplish nothing. Not even burning an extra 3 calories by lifting their finger.

- The John McEnroe: Perhaps even more pompous than the likes of the "Finger Thrower", the John McEnroe driver is a yeller. He likes to fight with his words, maybe even punch the occasional steering wheel. He's a loose canon with a penchant for ridiculous outbursts that will change nothing about the situation.

- The Eeyore: This poor victimized driver was just destined to sit in the traffic. In fact, if he hadn't been going the same direction as you today, you probably wouldn't have had to sit in traffic at all. Trouble just follows him and he's completely reisgned to it. Eeyores are easy to spot, their head will be leaning on the window and there will probably be a dark cloud raining only over their automobile. Thaaaanks for noticing him...

- The Harry Caray: This driver can be characterized by a random bobbing and weaving pattern of the car's movements. In a desperate attempt to see what's going on ahead, he will pull off onto the shoulder, dart back over two lanes when there is no where to go, and then settle back in his original spot thinking that he has just successfully made progress. Odds are good he'll also be eating a hot dog or a moon made of cheese all the while.

- The Existentialist: No Exit- "Hell is other people" (or cars in this case). There's nothing that can be done.

- The Busy Body: Only present in extreme traffic situations- i.e. serious enough that engines will start to be turned off- the Busy Body will leave the jurisdiction of their vehicle and journey to yours. They will knock on your window and ask you if you know what's going on, as if you have a direct link to the CBS News Helicopter and can provide late breaking news. This is also the same person who asks you what's wrong with the printer at the office.

- The Diva: They are unphased by the traffic and time being wasted because for this particular driver, this is their time to shine. It gives them much needed additional time to continue work on their Grammy-winning recording career. Because, clearly, they need it.

- The Nervous Nelly: This is probably closest to where I would fall. This driver has traffic anxiety. Now, in my case, about a year ago I spent an entire night, about 7 hours stuck on the interstate in an epic traffic jam. Now every time I sense the slightest traffic issue, I turn into a Kristen Wiig like character (think Sue who gets so nervous about keeping any secret, she busts through a screen door) and just want out of the car more than anything else in the whole wide world. This particular breed of driver can easily trasform into a "Finger Thrower", a "John McEnroe", an "Eeyore" or a "Harry Caray" at any given moment.


And then of course there is the Blogger- she who tried to use her time stuck in the car, waiting to get past a light in time to make a dinner reservation, to find some form of humor worth writing about. Hopefully she was able to succeed.

Safe driving to you all!

The Trouble with Moving is it Never Starts out as Fun

Sorry I've been MIA for a little while, folks. Been a busy few weeks, haven't had time to really stop and reflect. So since you are all wondering what's going on in the world of Cindy Lou Who, figured I would give you the update:

Time until move: 10 days
Boxes packed: 3
Boxes unpacked: 1 (Thanks a lot, Mickey)
Boxes left to pack: Atleast 4,000

There's a lot to be done in my apartment. And I just can't seem to get motivated to do any of it. Sound familiar? I actually never despised moving, but this time around, it just seems like the most awful thing that I have ever had to do in my entire life. And it is not helping now that I think Mickey has caught on to what's going on. He knows that when I pack a suitcase, he's going to my mom's for a few days, and usually he's ok with that. He'll pull the occasional item out of my suitcase and hide it. But this week while I was packing a box of scarves and hats, he successfully managed to unpack each item behind me as I was going back and forth from the closet. It was about my 3rd trip when I realized that I kept adding to the box, but it wasn't getting any fuller. Classic Mickey moarding (Mickey hoarding, obviously).

So now here I am, trying to pack up my apartment, making little to negative progress, and not sure how to get going in the right direction. Maybe it's my lack of proper materials. Maybe it's the fact that I have to start deciding what goes in storage and what's coming with me. Maybe, packing just plain sucks. So many variables!

The worst part is that in an attempt to feel like I've made any progress, I have just been rearranging things in my apartment- pulling things out of drawers, emptying closets, creating "stacks of stuff" that I am convinced I will one day transfer into a box. I wonder if I could just push everything into piles and just let the movers scoop it up and carry it down. No? Not a good plan? Shoot.

So right now, the big focus is on the move, getting packed, and hoping that I can find some motivation. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to find some packing motivation, I'm all ears. And, if you can offer no words of wisdom, but want to come drink wine and supervise, also available. You will have to BYOB though, because if I haven't proved enough that I am terrible at packing, I already packed up the liquor cabinet. Seriously, what was I thinking??

Boxes unpacked: 2