Traffic coming from St. Pete into Tampa across the Howard Frankland was a nightmare this morning, apparently due to a motivational seminar held at 8 a.m. at the St. Pete Times Forum. The event was reportedly a sell-out. To the people who managed to fight horrendous traffic (as late as 9:40 a.m. the backup still extended beyond the MLK/Ninth Street on-ramp in St. Petersburg), found parking downtown, walked to the Forum and found your seat before 8 a.m., you wasted your money paying for a motivational seminar. You’re clearly motivated. What you need is a self-confidence seminar.
As for we unmotivated sloths who simply wanted to get to work on time, the morning commute instead turned into the roadway equivalent of Lord Of The Flies. It’s funny how a wall of cars 10 miles from the next exit will cause people to chuck the normal rules of civilization and go cave man. Upon encountering the backup, some people slowed down, while others changed lanes in the hopes of going around the blockage (not today). Several brave/insane citizens decided they didn’t want to sit with their fellow travelers, and instead spun their trucks and SUVs around and drove off the highway up the
MLK/Ninth Street 275 on ramp.
For those who chose to stay, foolishly hoping that whatever the blockage was would be just ahead, the trip across the bridge took 45 minutes or more. At least the view was nice, if you could see past the trucks, the milk and the rednecks.
This article appears in Mar 8-14, 2006.