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| Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson. |
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| Cheesecake Factory Specials. |
One of the biggest complaints about
Los Angeles is the traffic. From 4-7pm each weekday, LA freeways are packed with commuters trying to get home. It can take 2 hours (or longer) to go 13 miles, and commuters find themselves tired, frustrated, angry, and wasting precious gas and time sitting on the roads. But I have a different suggestion for the weary traveler! Happy Hour! Is it coincidence, or fortune, that makes Happy Hour and Rush Hour both occur from 4-7pm? I'm not saying you should pull over and get blitzed before you drive home.
On the contrary, I regularly enjoy Happy Hour, instead of traffic, with no alcohol at all! Many local restaurants off great food specials in addition to drinks for the hours between 4pm and 7pm, and since many commuters are trying to race home to eat, it seems to be a perfect fit! With the rising costs of gas, it may actually be more cost effective to pull over and spend $8 for an appetizer and drink than to sit in traffic burning fuel for 2-3 hours. And after 7pm, the roads clear and you can get home at a reasonable pace, relaxed and refreshed. If at least half of the commuters in
Los Angeles would take this advice, we may find ourselves with less traffic in the first place! In the panic of
Carmageddon, so many people stayed off of the freeways to avoid the expected chaos, that drive times were the lowest that they had ever been! I understand that many people are racing home to spend time with family, or get to a meeting or event, and there are times when you can't spare an extra few minutes to stay clear of the madness, but there are plenty of people, like myself, who are just trying to get home to eat dinner, or relax. So I say, why wait? Don't worry, beat traffic, try Happy Hour instead!
