On The Road To West Nanticoke

Can’t figure this one out.

We have a fairly wide road on the West Side, variously named but from the Canadian Border to points south it’s Route 11. Lovely ride, generally two lanes, with speed variations from 25 (strictly observed in tiny, narrow, twisted Shickshinny) to 45 (never observed in open-range Jenkins Township).

But when you pass the K-Mart in Edwardsville, heading south, all that changes. The two lanes merge into one and stay that way for a good many miles. The speeds are good, mind you, and generally you can lope right along. But it’s just one lane and impatient people can only go as fast as whoever is in front of them. There is no passing.

Here’s what I can’t figure out: As you enter this one-lane section, there always seems to be someone zooming up beside you to get ahead of the last one or two cars – vehicles already traveling at road speed. Ah, they’ve done it; they are ahead of you. To what profit? They can’t pass anyone for miles. They are stuck.

I don’t see the gain, unless someone is so full of testosterone he just has to beat out the last couple of cars to show he is the man, he is the conqueror.

I watch him go by, gently, listening to the radio, thinking, “Well, Mr. Big Man, you’re ahead of me and, by darn, staying there for the next ten miles. Enjoy the victory.”