Readers and the role traffic plays in their lives

My friends and family who live outside California are amazed and overwhelmed by the amount of traffic here in L.A. They think I am out of my tree to spend an hour or more each way to and from work to only travel a distance of five or 10 miles.

Traffic has gotten so bad on the freeways that I have resorted to cutting through the canyons and residential neighborhoods to ease the commute time between the Valley and the Westside. And I'm sure the residents of these neighborhoods probably don't appreciate the increase of traffic due to commuters like myself looking for that ultimate shortcut to save a few extra minutes.

And the weekends, I have given up going anyplace because I'm too wiped out from commuting all week long.

-- Kira