Slugs

Cute, huh?

Imagine this: You are traveling home down I-95 from DC to the southern suburbs. You crawl along in traffic with only your radio for comfort, watching the HOV lanes fly by at 65mph. The next day, as you head down 14th St on your way out of the city, you see commuters lined up to pay $4.75 to ride home. And you think, I'd pay to have one of y'all (you're from Virginia!) in my car. Meanwhile, those in line watch enviously as motorists start their trip.

This is how I imagine slug lines formed, and I have some support in this theory. (Click that link, and you can read it.) Today, as I stood in line for the bus, I watched the line depleting in front of me, vanishing into cars, whose drivers held up fingers and called out locations. People speak their own language here -- "Old Hechinger's" has not stood in the parking lot for years, but commuters still use that term. As far as I can figure out, D.C. is the only area where this form of travel exists. Much as I hate this city, I also love it.

The man in front of me obviously wanted a slug ride over the bus and got seriously ticked when drivers only went up the the requisite HOV-3, rather than filling the car. It struck me that slugging has rules, similar to walking on the left and standing on the right of the Metro escalators.

I had a few moments of wondering what I would do if I made it to the front of the line and someone called out my home. While the idea fascinates me and I have never heard of there being any danger in slugging, I still couldn't imagine getting into a car with a complete stranger.