JOIN THE QUEUE
I’m an Aucklander — you may be able to tell — and if there’s one thing Aucklanders love more than soy lattes, overpriced houses, and having no idea where any place outside its 1102km2 radius is, it’s complaining about traffic. We’ve done a pretty stellar job at keeping all the traffic confined to the war zone that is Auckland motorways — you’re welcome, regions — but if this whole Covid-19 lockdown situation has highlighted one thing, it’s how awesome it is going anywhere when everyone else stays home.
I’ve managed to shave a good five minutes off my lap time — I mean, er, commute — to the supermarket, and the essential milk run to the local dairy via the back-country roads has never been more unobstructed. With the shift to Level 2 meaning we have a big hit of normality back, and people are allowed to travel wherever they damn well please again, this phenomenon has quickly dried up around my way, much as I imagine people are experiencing everywhere — perhaps even more so now than before, as everyone stretches and ventures out to favourite spots that have been off limits for the past two months.
It’s great that we’re heading back to what we knew as normal prior to all this, although I wonder if it’s opened up a new perspective to a lot of businesses and employees about the way we all work. Will we see more people working from home, where applicable, reducing the number of cars on the morning run? Maybe; it definitely makes sense for a lot of companies that have the capability for work to be done remotely, ours included. While, thankfully, much of the country has been able to return to work under Level 2, I’m currently still sitting at my makeshift desk in my diningroom-turned-office.
Nobody wants to sit in traffic, especially when for the most part you’re already getting out of bed at an ungodly hour to beat it only to find you’re queued up with everyone else doing the same thing. So working remotely makes a lot of sense.
Bear in mind, though, that driving is a perishable skill and, like anything that you don’t practise regularly, when you do return, your abilities can be a touch rusty. This has definitely been observed on my recent outings.
For the most part, the country is doing well, all things considered. I hope that everyone is staying safe, enjoying their new-found freedoms, and still taking the time to enjoy their cars. Even if it’s just your daily-driver, it doesn’t have to be a tool; it can be your entertainment, too.
See you next month.