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December 24, 2003
Christmas in Mammoth: Year II
Last year I wrote about my first experience with Christmas in Mammoth. I thought I'd continue the tradition this year.I began to think about this topic in ernest as I waited in the right hand lane for the light to turn green on the corner of Old Mammoth and Meridian. Once the light turned green, the SUV poorly equipped for these conditions, tried to speed ahead and cut me off so he/she could turn into the Vons parking lot not 30' from the intersection. This move didn't work, so they were forced to cut the person behind me off. I'm not sure what it is about being in an automobile that erases any sense of altruism the driver once held. Watching cars with Jesus Save's bumper stickers park in illegally in handicapped spots, or in the middle of roadways as they complete their important business. It is even more astounding when you consider that all of these people are on vacation, not at work. They are in a hurry for nothing. The most apparent character trait is selfishness. Whatever they are doing is more important than what anyone else has to do. The thought of losing a moment of their precious time to someone else is foreign. One of the most common things I've seen is the person who wants to turn left so desperately, they'll block all traffic until they can do it. They'll just pull right out on the slick roads.
All of this is made worse by the fact that it has snowed for 2 days straight with no end in sight. Combine this with a town that has almost no sidewalks and you get some dangerous scenarios. Once the snow from the road has been pushed to the sides of the road, affectively narrowing the road, it becomes a dangerous game of pedestrian pinball. It wouldn't be quite so bad if so many tourists didn't just stop in the middle of the road to take care of their business. I don't know how many cars I've seen stopped right in front of the KFC, which is a busy back-road intersection, when there were plenty of spots in the actual KFC parking lot. I imagine they believed it saved them a minute of walking or parking.
Christmas in Mammoth is very much the anti-christmas. Forget about the story of the christ child, this is about greed, self-centeredness, and shattered expectations.
Then again, this is what we get in a society where Christmas vacation may be the only vacation they get where they can spend it with their family. Most of these people have been waiting all year for this and have built up their expectations to an high crescendo. They will almost all be disappointed when they find their dream must fit right along with the tens of thousands of other dreams that try and jam their way into Mammoth every Christmas.
Me? Ba humbug. I'm going to work and stay home. Hopefully this dreadful Christmas season will pass soon.
Posted by wonko at December 24, 2003 02:11 PM
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