Sometimes the most direct route should be avoided at all costs

It occurred to me that I haven’t let y’all who read these emails that Sana and I have relocated to Minnesota from Virginia Beach. It’s something we had been talking about for some time – even well before she arrived in the U.S. – but circumstances which we’ll call “providential” made it clear this was the time to make the move.

So this move has involved a few long road trips between Virginia and Minnesota, and probably a few more before everything is said and done.

Now one glance at a map of the United States and you can see that the Chicago area is smack dab in the middle of any logical route between the two.

And anyone who’s ever driven through Chicago knows it ain’t no fun to do.

So you just accept it as a necessary evil.

Or you look for alternate routes – of which there happens to be one.

Interstate 39 goes directly south from Madison, WI to Bloomington, Illinois; then directly east to Indianapolis. It’s not the most direct route, and assuming there’s no traffic in Chicago, it probably adds a solid hour to the drive time.

But anyone who knows Chicago knows you should assume there will not only be a ton of traffic, but at least a dozen interchanges from I this to I that etc. Not to mention road construction which just adds exponentially to the stress.

By the time you finally get through the sea of asphalt and exits – assuming you’re even on the correct road, you’re completely frazzled and just wish you were done with the trip already.

I made the mistake of traveling through Chicago last week on my way down to Virginia. By the time I was out of it – and through the delay immediately after in Indiana – I was cursing myself for not taking the longer route.

It may be longer by distance, but it sure is easier and far less stress.

Good life lesson in there, and could be applied any number of ways.

For my part, I used to pride myself in my “direct” manner of speaking with others. Just say what’s on your mind, and so long as you don’t insult anyone, they’ll get the message and we can all get on with whatever we’re doing that necessitates the communication in the first place.

That sometimes works out if you have that kind of rapport with certain people.

But it turns out that people are sometimes kind of fragile and the most direct means of communicating oftentimes causes more trouble than whatever problem you had to begin with. If you don’t take the time to build that rapport, “direct speak” causes all sorts of traffic jams so to speak. And by the time you get to the other end of the conversation, everyone is exhausted and ready to call it a day.

Sometimes it’s better to take the longer route in communicating. It may not be as exciting, but you get to your destination without all the stress.

I honestly had no idea which direction this email would take when I began (pardon the pun) but there it is 😉