Rest Areas

While making dinner last night I was listening to NPR's All Things Considered, and I heard this story, which discussed how several states across the union are shutting down interstate rest stops in order to save money. Some are going to be closed temporarily until the state's budget crisis passes, and others are going to be permanently shuttered.

The story presented three people who opposed these actions. The first, a representative from Triple A, said that it would lead to more tired drivers travelling the road, and that would lead to accidents. The second, a big rig truck driver, said that he often took his mandated sleep time at a rest area, and that now he would have to pull off and sleep in a more dangerous location, such as an interstate off ramp. The third person complained that the interstate rest areas were a piece of history, and that if they went away a piece of every American's childhood would go away--all of those rest area stops on the way to some vacation spot. She said that interstate rest areas should be saved, as sort of historical landmarks.

I have no problems with the first two arguments. It's the third that really got under my skin. Really? Rest areas are historical landmarks? As the news story itself said, they're just a building and some concrete and vending machines. If you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all.

And don't get me wrong: I have very vivid memories of stopping at rest areas on the way to vacation spots. There's a rest area just outside of Frankfort, where I grew up, and I remember every year that we went on our extended family vacation, we would all meet up at that rest area before caravaning to Myrtle Beach or Panama City or wherever we were going. But I could honestly not care less if that rest area were shut down.

We don't need to make EVERYTHING a cause.