Roman Around

this is the best they could do?

There are times when I find myself so aggravated from being trapped in one of those bumper-to-bumper, standstill, full-gridlock traffic jams that I feel my cranium ready to detonate. This is especially true at times when there traditionally isn’t “supposed” to be that kind of traffic – like, for instance, on a Sunday morning at 10:oo, or at 1:00 on a Tuesday afternoon.

Of course, I live in New York City – the city that never sleeps, complete with pothole-filled highways and byways to match – so there really is no such thing as “supposed to” when it comes to roadway congestion … or anything else, for that matter.

The point is, after sitting in that kind of nerve-frying, scream-inducing highway jam for so long, I not only want to get moving again, I want closure. After having suffered through the inconvenience, indignation and frustration of a major four-lane bottleneck backed up for several miles, I want answers. I want to know precisely what caused all the mess. To be quite frank, I demand to see something up ahead that sufficiently explains why my life has been so disrupted – a stalled vehicle, an overturned tractor trailer, highway construction, lane reduction, something. I obviously don’t want anyone hurt, but I want to see a legitimate reason – anything – that clarifies why I have been stuck on this damn highway for so long.

I’d better see something!

Too many times, however, after a half-hour or more of tedious stop and go crawling (mostly stop), traffic in all lanes will suddenly start to move again. This is obviously a very good thing … but it can be just as infuriating. Often, to my great dismay, at the point where traffic suddenly – inexplicably – loosens up, there will be nothing there to offer even a hint as to why we were all stuck for so long – no fender-bender, no flat tire, no jack-knifed semi … nothing! It just cleared up, seemingly for no reason.

The payoff was a big fat nothing.

All of that fuss for what?

Well, with that spirit in mind, take a good look at the photograph of Air Force One flying over the Statue of Liberty.

Take a good look at it.

Are you impressed?

Remember not too long ago when this low flying aircraft caused a hell of a panic in New York City? Remember when this plane, flanked by a fighter jet, took a leisurely fly over Ground Zero in lower Manhattan causing a genuine scare on the streets of the city, prompting folks into thinking another terrorist attack was underway? Remember this ill-conceived, moronic photo-op that caused New Yorkers to phone 9-1-1 believing that another September 11th style attack was taking place?

The Mayor of New York didn’t even know about it.

All of that for what?

Using the traffic-jam analogy to set the mood, this is the best they could do? That’s it? This is the best photograph they could come up with? After all of that?  All of that fuss for what?

It’s just not that great of a picture. In fact, it’s fairly lousy.

Next time try Photoshop.

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