Got Change?
Posted by Greg Heeres on March 8, 2009
Traveling recently on one of America’s freeways, I came across an oasis and later a toll road system.
A highway oasis is supposed to be a rest area; a place to stop, stretch out, and relax. Big trucks, RVs and all types of cars and SUVs were everywhere. I didn’t notice anyone relaxing. In fact people were hurriedly walking with purpose into the oasis building assumedly to use the bathroom. Similarly, dogs were barking while at the oasis as they walked with their owners trying to find a swathe of grass so the dog could do their business too. I am not a dog whisperer, but the dogs didn’t seem relaxed either.
After my business was complete at the oasis and later on down the freeway, I now was traveling on a toll road. I found this quite a contradiction. Didn’t I pay a tax when I filled up with fuel? Why would I need to pay to use a freeway anyway?
What caught my attention on the toll road was the lane options by which you could pay and continue on your travels. As I approached the toll plaza, people were changing lanes as skilled as Kyle Busch in a Nascar race.
Different states have different names for these lanes. For ease, I will refer to these lanes as “speed lanes”. If you travel the toll road often, you could buy a sticker in advance for your vehicle so you could travel quicker through the toll plaza saving all of 73 seconds. But if you didn’t have a “speed pass”, you have to get in the “change only’ lane.
Wouldn’t it be effective if you deposited your coin change and simultaneously changed personally when passing through the “change only” lane? Maybe change to a nicer person or smarter or more grace-giving or less stressed. Instead of merely dropping coins into a large mouth mechanism, you actually improved every time you passed through a toll.
I pondered if people would still select the “speed lane” because it was faster. Would some not want to change? Are they in too much of a hurry to change? Am I in too much of a hurry to change? Are you?
As a prompt, the next time we have extra coins in our pocket let’s consider a change.
