Had to choose between a 20 minute detour or sitting through a funeral procession. I picked wrong.

So I'm driving home from work in Tacoma last Tuesday, and I hit this massive backup near the cemetery. I see the funeral procession lights up ahead, and I'm stuck at a standstill. My GPS says I can take a side road and add 20 minutes, or just wait. I figured how long could it be, right? 45 minutes later I'm still sitting there because the whole line was like 50 cars long and they were going 10 mph. Lesson learned, I'm always taking the detour now. Anyone else ever misjudge a funeral procession wait time?

2 comments

2 Comments

scott.miles14d ago

...and my buddy Larry thought the same thing last spring, sat through a 30 car line going 8 mph because he figured it'd be quick. He ended up being LATE to his own kid's soccer game and his wife was PISSED. Now he just pulls over and waits it out or turns around, no more guessing.

victorhill14d ago

Read a news article just last week about how waiting in long lines actually changes your brain chemistry, makes you more anxious. They said the average person starts getting angry after about 10 minutes in a slow moving line, no matter how rational they try to be about it. So your buddy Larry was probably fighting his own biology sitting there in that 30 car line. Seems like he figured that out the hard way, but now he's got a system that works for him. That's the smart move, just knowing when to bail.