Driving the Express Lanes

A week ago we took a trip from Cleveland to Wisconsin. Such a trip necessitates going through Chicago - and if you want to come back, you've got to do it twice!
So, we took the Skyway and were looping around at a good clip - then I made a fateful choice... to take the Express lanes!

I've gone back and forth enough in past years that I should've remembered; Just because they SAY "Express Lanes" does not mean that you're going to be "Expressed" anywhere. In fact, its my opinion that express lanes are really just a way of containing the suckers in the middle of the highway so that all the people who know better can go about their lives just a little easier.

Its not a big problem, and in the end we weren't all that bad off. Maybe 10 extra minutes in the car... whatever. But its one of those lessons in life that makes you want to reflect on other "Express Lanes" in our world that may or may not be worth taking.

For instance, the literal 10-Items-or-Less express lanes... sure, a thing of beauty most days. But have you ever watched just how busy they get? And sometimes I've noticed a bored looking clerk sitting two or three ailes over in a "normal" checkout, with nothing to do but look at the light above her register to make sure that it really is on.

We like the "easy" way. We like the fast way. But is it always the best?
I'll save that sermon for another time.

By the way, we took the Express Lanes on the way home too.
...I'll never learn.