When Work Feels Nothing Like Work

When most people have to sit in traffic for more than an hour, they get annoyed. I did it joyfully today because I got paid for it. You read that right: for almost two full hours, I was paid to sit in traffic.

Now, I did have to sing a little bit for my supper. This was not your ordinary Saturday traffic, so I had to talk about the hideous congestion, along with the moods of the other drivers (a bit of a challenge as we were all in our own cars) and the basic atmosphere on the automobile soaked Golden Gate Bridge. The other drivers seemed to be handling the situation with gracious patience, even though we were all being left in the dust by the pedestrians walking across the bridge. And I think the drivers' moods would have soured if they'd known I was being paid to do what they were doing for free. So I kept that to myself.

Once Highway 101 reopened the traffic recovered quickly, and I'm sure everyone was quite happy and relieved. Well, everyone except the actor I met who had missed his audition in Marin because he was stuck in the back-up. And then his car died. Plus, his towing company told him they wouldn't be able to get a truck out to him right away, so he was stranded with a only few hours until he needed to be onstage for his current show. I doubt he was having a particularly good day.

Sometimes my job is almost surreal.