The Road Less Traveled
I’m wondering how Robert Frost would react to these signs lately posted in my neighborhood:
The county has had this road closed since June. Unfortunately it is a popular route to reach the local mountain where there is biking, hiking, eating, and other activities during the summer. It’s a popular tourist, and local, hot spot. People want to get there via the road most traveled. The road less traveled, sorry Robert, is causing some perplexed responses. BTW: There are two other alternative routes so a detour is not a big inconvenience.
However–
Even with all these signs that the times have changed people still drive up to the barricade as if concrete barricades don’t apply to them. Actually, cyclists, those pedaling and those zooming, have made that determination.
After nearly two months of watching people navigate this road of fair impossibility (refer to cyclist note) I have decided there are three categories of drivers:
- Illiterate: obviously they can’t read and ignoring these signs serves as both a metaphorical and literal ignorance.
- Determined: these are the ones that you watch on the Instagram clips, the driver you drives through the cascading, overflowing waters across the roadway because the desire to get to their destination overcomes common sense.
- Entitled: as in the sign can’t possibly apply to them, so impervious ignorance sets the pace and I can’t help but snicker when they drive clear up to the barricade (which is clearly seen at the entrance of the road) sit there puzzled before making a U-turn and follow the detour sign.
Robert Frost’s poem may have spoken of the road less traveled, but I would reckon he would adhere to a detour if it deemed the better route. Then again, maybe he would have zipped through on his Harley, given the opportunity.
Poets are known to be wild when it comes to veering off the beaten path
Pam Webb 