You also get a lot of tom-up freeways—well, we’d already encountered those down in Florida. Apparently the whole U.S. interstate system is falling apart and they’re trying to stick it back together, causing innumerable single-file detours, all plastered with slow-down signs to make certain no opportunity is missed to create a mile-long traffic jam. I found myself remembering a detour I’d hit in France some years ago when I was trying to travel inconspicuously, never mind why. I made the mistake of slowing down for the construction area like any good little defensive American driver, thereby incurring the wrath of the French gendarme on duty. Just how stupid could I get? Did I not comprehend simple logic? Clearly, when the road is reduced by half its width, monsieur, automobiles must proceed at twice the velocity in order to maintain the same volume of traffic! Vite, vite . . . “What’s funny?” Sandra asked as we crawled around a culvert under construction, or reconstruction.
