Traffic Jam Quotes

“Arkady Pashkin said “Why aren’t we moving?”
Middle of the city, traffic in front, traffic behind, a big sign saying roadworks ahead, and a stop light clearly visible through the windscreen. So why aren’t we moving, Lousia wondered. You had to be rich to ask.”
― Mick Herron, Dead Lions

“The modern man is usually in a hurry to get to a destination from which he will sooner or later suffer from and at times complain about boredom.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“If you're going to be in a traffic jam, at least enjoy the flavor. Make some toast.”
― Bashar

“The person you are mad at for being late could be late.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana, P for Pessimism: A Collection of Funny yet Profound Aphorisms

“The Daily Grind by Stewart Stafford

Crooked broker flashes teeth,
Cannibal flesh on their napkin,
The traffic jam zombie shuffle,
Stars, take me home quickly.

Follow the screaming off a cliff,
Panic echoes as the land recoils,
Sea spray whipping up at you fast,
Splash down into drowning lessons.

See a shark fin’s scything slash,
Fangs picked clean with a toothpick,
Dark eyes wander to exposed midriff,
Chomp, and all the problems cease.

© Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“[...] gli ingorghi e gli imbottigliamenti sono uno dei segni di questa triste società in cui viviamo, uno dei segni più negativi, perché testimoniano una sorta di contraddizione con la vita umana. Una ricerca della disgrazia, dell'infelicità, dell'esasperazione, attraverso quella grande meraviglia tecnologica che è l'automobile, che dovrebbe garantirci la libertà, mentre poco a poco sta mostrando i suoi lati peggiori (p. 72, riguardo al racconto "Autostrada del Sud", in "Tutti i fuochi il fuoco").”
― Julio Cortázar, L'altro lato delle cose. Intervista.

“Do you have a driver's license?"
"Of course," she said, not knowing if it was true or not. She was already sitting behind the steering wheel.
He tossed her the keys and she turned the ignition as he climbed into the car.
She pressed hard on the gas pedal and the car shrieked away from the curb. The back end fishtailed. She needed to get to school quickly and find some answers. She had a feeling that Catty wasn't going to last long in that place.
The light turned yellow ahead of her.
"Slow down!" Derek shouted as the car in front of them stopped for the light.
She didn't let up.
"You're going to rear-end it!" Derek cried, and his foot pressed the floor as if he were trying to work an invisible brake.
She jerked the steering wheel, swerved smoothly around the car, and blasted through the intersection, ignoring the flurry of horns and screeching tires.
Derek snapped his seat belt in place. "Why are you in such a hurry to get to school?"
"Geometry test," she answered, and buzzed around two more cars.
At the next junction she needed to make a left-hand turn, but the line of traffic waiting for the green arrow would delay her too long. She continued in her lane, and when she reached the intersection, she turned in front of the car with the right-of-way. Angry honks followed her as she blasted onto the next street.
"We've got time, Tianna!" Derek yelled. "School doesn't start for another fifteen minutes."
Would fifteen minutes give her enough time to get the answers she needed? She didn't think so.
She pressed her foot harder on the accelerator. The school was at least a mile away, but if she ignored the next light and the next, then maybe she could get there with enough time to question Corrine. She didn't think her powers were strong enough to change the lights and she didn't want to chance endangering other drivers, but she was sure she could at least slow down the cross traffic.
She concentrated on the cars zooming east and west on Beverly Boulevard in front of her without slowing her speed.
"Tianna!" Derek yelled. "You've got a red light!"
She squinted and stalled a Jaguar in the crosswalk. Cars honked impatiently behind the car, and when a Toyota tried to speed around it, she stopped it, too. She could feel the pressure building inside her as she made a Range Rover and a pick-up slide to a halt. She shot through the busy intersection against the light.
Derek turned back. "You've got to be the luckiest person in the world.”
― Lynne Ewing, The Lost One