Hail To The Chief

I left work this afternoon at 4:50 p.m. Usually, this means that I arrive home somewhere around say 5:05 p.m.

Not today. I arrived at 5:55 p.m.

The President was in town. And while I fully recognize and appreciate that the President should be able to travel unimpeded at whatever time of day he chooses, maybe his schedule could be arranged to avoid major rush hour in a major city.

If not, maybe the local police force could direct traffic away from the excitement rather than toward it.

Here's what happened:

I'm driving from downtown up Cantrell, a major road that carries significant traffic at 5 p.m., when I cross Kavanaugh and suddenly policemen canvass the area and start redirecting traffic.

Now, for those of you who know Little Rock, I was sitting directly in front of the Heights Kroger heading west and was redirected toward the right directly to Kavanaugh Avenue in the Heights.

I wasn't sure why I had to turn, but knew that at this time of day, Kavanaugh is usually a little clogged because people are trying to turn left further down the road with no left turn signal.

So, knowing that what I needed to do was head toward west toward my neighborhood, Leawood, but knowing the Heights area well (because we once lived in the neighboring community, Cammack Village), I turned down a side street thinking I'd cross Cammack Village, run through the Kingwood neighborhood, and be in Leawood in minutes. Not so much.

I hit that side street and then another policeman. Luckily a woman walking stopped at my window and told me that President Bush was at the end of Cammack Village (the area I'd planned to cut through) and all the streets were blocked. Indefinitely. Until he was leaving.

So I turned around and ended up right back where I'd started on Kavanaugh where I sat for 20 minutes...waiting for the motorcade to pass.

During those 20 minutes I had plenty of time to think.

Why couldn't the Little Rock police just direct me left at Cantrell into Hillcrest, away from the President's engagement rather than right, which was directly toward it? There was a street to to the left I could have easily turned onto except the police had it blocked, too. Why did they lead me more into the thick of things rather that push me away from them?

Is that so hard? I could have driven into Hillcrest, taken Evergreen, and been in Leawood in under 2 minutes.

Instead of the Little Rock police realizing that traffic direction could have made more sense, I waited and waited and waited...burning $4 a gallon of gasoline while smoking a $4 pack of cigarettes.

Do you think the government will reimburse me?

L.