Road crews are working on adding a new interchange to the highway I travel in my commute.
The construction got me to thinking about a time in my early childhood when my family used to periodically travel the New Jersey Turnpike to visit relatives.
Exit signs were the primary indicators of progress made - and distances yet to travel. In addition to announcing the name of the secondary road served, each exit sign also provided the number of miles to the next exit.
Twenty-three miles between one exit and another was cause for much moaning and groaning from the backseat. When you're a kid who has already been in a car for over an hour and the next milestone is nearly half an hour away - well that's an eternity.
One particularly hot summer afternoon my displeasure with the never ending ride was heightened by the discovery that a new exit had been added between exits 7 and 8. The new exit was 7A and it was very bad news as far as I was concerned.
In my mind, the new exit meant the distance between exits 7 and 8 had to have been lengthened to accommodate this offensive new off ramp.
Exit 7A could only mean - the marathon ride had just gotten longer.
I wanted to stomp my feet and cry foul - but my Dad would have made it clear that I was going to be the cause of his having to turn the car around.
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