It amazes me starting every Thanksgiving week that, suddenly and predictably, the population everyplace seems to explode and multiply by hundreds. Where do all these people come from, and where do they hide between January and the Monday before the turkey goes in the oven?
Starting on Black Friday, it isn’t even safe to try and find a nice parking space anyplace you frequent, because every spot is taken by an SUV, many of them from other states. I never realized so many people from Pennsylvania loved Sprouts enough to cross the bridge and visit the one that just opened in my neighborhood. All I wanted to do was buy a bunch of bananas, some mandarins and a loaf of bread, and I had to navigate around folks desperately looking to shop at Target or the liquor store. Today, I had to make my way through traffic on side streets which are normally empty but served as detours as cars were being diverted for parades, and the number of vehicles was staggering. Every car had at least two people and as many as six, including children and anxious dogs.
Fortunately I looked at my wall calendar yesterday, or I would have forgotten that I had a Saturday matinee stage show in Philadelphia. Normally I wouldn’t be out and about on Thanksgiving weekend, because it’s too hectic. The streets are crowded, and a lot of people are outside their comfort zones and have no idea where they are going, making everyday tasks more complex. Still, I managed to park and get to the theatre in good time. The house was packed, because it was the family holiday musical selection, and parents brought their kids. I was pleased to see the children in nice holiday outfits, proving that some traditions have not changed yet. And yes, the traffic in Center City was also extreme, which is why I took public transit.
The sudden surge in population clogs the airports and train stations, ties up roads and highways, spills into the outer rims of mall parking lots and snugs tightly nose to tail on small town streets in which the parking meters have been replaced by cell phone fee activation or covered in little cozy covers to make parking free and bring small business, well, business.
The first holiday weekend of the winter, blessedly, is nearly over, and the Sunday airport delays and highway traffic will go in the other direction. Soon, the kazillion people who have appeared magically in our midst will disappear again into wherever they came from until it gets closer to the four December holidays (the big ones being Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and New Year’s, with all due respect to the other ones celebrated around the world).
Funny thing is, the day after Christmas, there is no surge in traffic; every shopping establishment is a ghost town, and their hours are back to pre-holiday early closures. It’s a complex mystery that occurs every year, and I get the chance to watch the parade of humanity rise and fall like waves in a storm.
My vehicle will stay parked in the driveway.
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