Why are my Short Cuts NEVER Short?!!!

Why is it that my "short cuts" are never actually short?!!!

On a good day, it takes me 35-40 minutes to drive from work in downtown Salt Lake City to the high school in West Jordan where I am performing in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Add in time to shut down my computer at work, get out of the parking garage, stop at some drive-through for some food before the show, and deal with the construction going on at EVERY street I have to take, and it makes for a good hour commute. I try to leave work by 5pm, and can usually get to the school a little before 6 o'clock. Believe me, I need every bit of the hour-and-a-half before the show for hair and make-up (which I do myself), vocal and stretching excercises, mic check, cast meeting, getting dressed, and checking my props. I'm a terrible time-manager, so it always takes longer than it should. I try to be organized, but it hasn't worked out so far.

Yesterday, I left work at 5:15. I was a little worried, but I hoped that I could still get to the school in 45 minutes or so.

Nope.

Traffic started before I even hit I-15. Usually, it doesn't start until at least 3300 South -- that's when I knew I was in trouble. I could see there was at least one ambulance driving up the HOV lane and figured there was probably an accident slowing things up, so I decided to take I-215 and go around the accident.

Ha! Fat chance!

Would you believe there were TWO accidents on I-80 before I even got to I-215?! It took FOREVER to get there. By 5:40, when if I take my usually route I usually get off I-15 to start my way up 7200 South, I had just barely reached the I-215 on ramp in south Salt Lake.

And now you all think I am a horrible person for being annoyed at traffic accidents. After all, they are "accidents", and my being delayed 20 minutes is waaaay better than actually being in the accident which would probably be a couple hours' -- if not an indefinite -- delay. It's horrible to see rescue vehicles and the mangled cars and crying and injured people. I am truly grateful I wasn't involved in any accidents. For all I know, if I'd left on time I would have been. I just thought it hideously ironic that I had detoured to skip one possible traffic accident and instead had to deal with two.

I finally got off the Redwood Road exit at 6pm, and honestly I started yelling "REALLY?!!" when I remembered that 6200 South is under construction. Of course. Why was I surprised? It's only been a few weeks since I drove up that road every day. It should not have been a surprise. But I just wanted SOMETHING to go right!

Bangerter was backed up. 7800 South was under construction. AND I hit every single red light and sometimes had to wait through two cycles before I was allowed to move on. I wished I hadn't left my makeup in the trunk of my car so that I could start applying while sitting at all those traffic lights, but there was nothing I could do about it. I decided not to bother to stop for dinner, because I didn't want to be later than I already was. I tried so hard to count my blessings: I was safe and hadn't been in an accident; I was listening to good music and warming up my voice; I was sure I'd get there eventually. There was almost nothing I could do, and what's the point of getting upset over something I can't control (which, by the way, is the most upsetting part about it for me)?

I finally arrived at my destination at about 6:25. Feeling really stressed and annoyed, I proceeded to set my props, grab my mic, and do my makeup and put on my costume for mic check (why the sound guy insists we have our costumes on for mic check I will never understand -- if we aren't properly dressed, he actually makes us go put our costumes on and ridicules us if we take too long). Luckily, the sound guy always requests me last. Being last at mic check bothered me the first couple of times, mostly because I'd bust my butt to get ready and then waste my time waiting around while he called everyone else's character name ("I'm always forgotten! I'm always LAST!" -- my favorite "Amy" line from Little Women the musical); once I realized he expected me to be last, I didn't worry as much about hurrying. Well, I was so annoyed about the traffic situation, I couldn't think of a single line to sound check with. How dumb is that? I have half of the lines in the script, but I had nothing in my brain! So, I ranted for about 15 seconds, and then he let me go continue to get ready.

I wanted to look especially pretty because my parents came to the show last night and I had specificially requested that my dad take photos. My hair refused to cooperate. I wouldn't have minded the extra time to work on it but I didn't have it; yet another reason I was annoyed about the delay. But, I managed to look okay, I calmed down, and the show went well.

Seriously though, I am almost afraid to try to EVER veer off my normal driving course. I have horrible luck with traffic lights, and even if alternate routes sound good in my head, they are rarely good in actuality. It really, really sucks. If I were more organized then maybe I could actually leave 5-10 minutes earlier like I usually plan to. It rarely happens. I'm either 30 minutes early somewhere or 15 minutes late. It's frustrating!

Once upon a time, I enjoyed driving. Not so much the past couple of years.

I cannot tell you how excited I am that my next show is close to home! Not only will I possibly be able to go home for a few minutes inbetween work, rehearsals, and performances, but it shouldn't take me more than 15-20 minutes to get there from my house. Hallelujah, I say! HALLELUJAH!