Stuck in Traffic: What to Do When There is Nothing to Do But Wait
2:06 AM
Last Saturday, my family and I were on a special mission to bring flowers to Pililla to be used for the procession of its patron saint, St. Mary Magdalene on the celebration of the town fiesta on Sunday. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law usually do this task every year but were unable to do so this time because of a death in the family. Since there was no one else, we had to fill in and perform this very important task.
We knew that come hell or high water, we had to do this, not realizing that high water literally awaited us on our way. Because of the non-stop rain brought by the typhoon, the streets of Metro Manila and neighboring areas were again flooded. Traffic was at a stand-still after the Nichols Exit because the water at the Magallanes area was knee-deep. Whether we like it or not, we were stuck in traffic and had nowhere to go.
My children were understandably restless. It was also hot inside the car as we had to turn off the air-conditioning as we were not moving for more than an hour. We can not even open the windows as rain would come in. I felt anxious as besides the great discomfort, the children were already starting to complain, especially the younger one. I knew I had to think of something to take our minds off our predicament before we are all reduced to tears with sheer exasperation.
And then I remembered that my daughter had an assignment to memorize the song "Tomorrow" for a graded performance on Monday. With a little prodding, my daughter practiced the song right there and then. At first, she did it grudgingly but after a while she started enjoying it especially when she noticed that we would break out in laughter when we would all join in and hit the notes quite badly. Before we realized it, a part of the expressway is being opened to allow cars to make a u-turn to find other ways to reach our respective destinations and we were finally on our way via a much longer route.
It was a good thing that we had some snacks and drinks with us or else the situation could have been a lot worse. We also had a fully charged cellphone with sufficient load which allowed us to communicate with people who were getting anxious about our delay. And of course, we prayed for a safe journey in spite of the prevailing circumstances. However, I reminded myself to be more ready next time by stocking up on some activity books or games inside the car to entertain the kids the next time a similar situation arises.
It was a long and tiring day as we encountered several other flooded areas along the way but we went home happy because we accomplished what we set out to do.
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| The reason for our mission :St. Mary Magdalene, the Patron Saint of Pililla, Rizal |
8 comments
It's nice you had a good family moment in a traffic jam. That's definitely a good way to survive the traffic.
ReplyDeleteAt least you had your daughter to take away the stress cause by the traffic. All in all it was an awesome experienced. :)
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you all came home safe.
ReplyDeleteGood thing that you have snack and drinks while on your way and arrived safely..
ReplyDeletenothing we can do with the traffic jam but just glad you accomplished your task and return home safe...
ReplyDeleteI always have a food bin in the car and the kids are the first to tell me when it needs replenishment. Good tips here!
ReplyDeletesinging will always be the way to go! just a few hour ago, we were on our way home from a birthday party and the kids are all tired and grumpy but with a few lines from Call Me Maybe, their moods changed!
ReplyDeleteMommies always save the day! Thank God for the song and the snacks, everything went well.
ReplyDeleteLet us know what you think