DC Traffic Hell

I grew up in Sunny San Diego, California. The mindset of San Diego is of a big city with a small town feel. We have our usual morning and evening rush hour, but it's acceptable. When I moved here a few months back I began to hear horror stories of the atrocious traffic issues in the area. I thought that maybe the people were exaggerating. Then on one occasion I decided to head to my nearest Target to pick up a few things on a Friday early afternoon. Target is about 3 miles from my home. I never got there because the road was so congested that it was impossible to give myself one good reason to push through that situation. I also had the honor of taking my husband to work at the Pentagon from time to time . Yes, it's very cool to drop him off at the doorstep of my country's defense headquarters but damned if I ever want to do that again. I began to realize that the people were not exaggerating. As I began to job hunt I tried very hard to get a job that was close to home. Unfortunately we live far from the center of where the jobs are located. Granted, let me add that it's only about 25 miles, but in this town those 25 miles are hard earned. This week was my first week at my new job which is 23 miles from home. I wake up at 4:30 to be at work by 8am and get home around 5:30pm or 6:30 on a Friday. Dinner is a rushed and then 3 hours later it's bed time. It's a horrible feeling and I don't even have kids yet. I don't know how the parents of this area do it. Today was my first Friday and being that there is only one major highway going north and south that connects the east coast, the commute is even worse. The reason being that people do their traveling from state to state on weekends and we get more people on the roads. It took me a little over 2 hours to get home today. I can't even imagine doing this every day or once a week. Maybe I am a big wuss but I honestly think this is sad as hell. What's worse is that the weather has been good. I can't imagine what it would be like if it had rained today. A co-worker told me today that last year when they had the big snowstorm; people were abandoning their cars on the interstate, due to gridlock and running out of gas. The people started walking home in the snow. My co-worker also told me that he had left work around 5pm and did not get home until midnight. Needless to say, that kind of made me hate this place even more. I don't know how people choose to be part of this vicious cycle. My hubby and I are here because we have to be here. I just needed to vent and put this out there. I pray for patience and the ability to not turn into an asshole like most of the Virginians I have recently met. Not to say they are all horrible but the nice ones are easy to spot...that should tell you what I am dealing with over here. #annoyed