Insane Driving Puts Psycho Drivers A Few Feet Ahead During Hwy. 7 Commute
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I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays. We’ve now entered that weirdest week of the year where time warps and everyone forgets what day it is, what time it is, their own names and their purpose in life. I set an alarm on my phone many days ago to remind me to write this column today as I correctly anticipated I would not recognize Monday as Monday and miss my deadline otherwise. Even for those of us who still need to show up to work between Christmas and New Year’s, there’s still something strange and discombobulating about the week. It’s like an episode of LOST but with lots of food and also your whole family is there.
Speaking of time warp, I was in the position to need to do some long-distance interstate traveling on Christmas Day and let me tell you a secret: Christmas Day is the absolute best day to drive. There was next to no one on the road. What was typically a six-hour trip from Georgia back to Mississippi turned into a five-hour trip due to lack of traffic. I hadn’t made it out of the first town before my Maps app was clocking the trip time down in the four-hour zones. And the drivers who were out were very chill. They were just moseying on to Memaw’s house for some ham and rolls.
It was an unusually pleasant driving experience, which was relieving. The less time I spend driving these days the better as I’ve developed a pretty good paranoia of other drivers.
Living next to Highway 7 will do that to you. I would say that we’ve all talked this issue into the ground but it almost can’t be talked about enough, in my opinion. Like all of us in Water Valley, the number of times my sweet children and I have almost been hit head on by someone trying to pass six cars at once is countless. It’s beyond me why people repeatedly put others at risk like this, much less their own selves. This especially when we would all eventually come to a total stop – in a line, all two feet apart – at the 7/9 Split! And then we stop again where the old Popeyes used to be. Like, what was the point of all that insane passing? They get to Oxford two feet earlier now? I mean, Oxford’s cool but it ain’t all that. You shouldn’t be dying to get there literally.
The 7/9 Split is round now so we won’t be completely stopped two feet apart starring into the rear-view-mirror-eyes of the psycho drivers in front of us anymore. We’ll be at a slow roll. Unfortunately, the new roundabout won’t do much about the psycho drivers but I am a fan of the roundabout. The first time I encountered it was at night coming from Oxford so I was totally confused and decided I was driving into the field by the Yocona River, but I made it. It’s been a breeze after that. Also, the magnolias planted in the middle are pretty.
I hope that as we go into 2022 everyone can make a New Year’s resolution to always drive on Highway 7 like you’re going to Memaw’s house for ham and rolls.
