The old Route 66 is one of those real American stories. You take a good idea that brings people together and then someone has to come in and ruin it for everyone. The road Route 66 used to connect many vibrant small town together and was a real kick for Americans to get out and meet people from different people around the country. Oh, it wasn’t always perfect but that’s with everything. The song reflects that, in a playful way.
I can’t help but think about the reasons Route 66 became the automobile equivalent of a ghost town. You can still travel along Route 66 but it is nothing like it used to be. Why? Well, the road really died in the 1950’s when we built the interstate highway system.
The interstate highway system was a good idea to make shipping and moving people from one part of the country to the other. However, like space in your house, if you build a highway, there will always be someone who’s willing to drive on it, as long as it goes somewhere that people want to go to. So, people started driving on them, so other people started building truck stops, off-ramp locations with all the chain restaurants and such.
The interstate highway system however shifted travelers and their money from all these cool towns. Due to the chains that were installed all within easy access of the freeways, people began to get from the local flavor of the places they were visiting. This not only hurt local restaurants but it also hurt us as a culture.
It was great to be able to find a meal that was always consistent, no matter where you went but then we started to expect it, it became part of our culture to eat at these places, we internalized it. Many people stopped looking for culture, this became part of our culture.
I think that this actually contributes to our inability to adapt to change.
Yes, if you expect the same thing no matter where you go, your brain gets lazy. I’ve seen people looking around for a place to eat with 3 restaurants right nearby. They couldn’t see them because they had lost the ability to see anything but what they expected.
So, here we are with a significant percentage of our country who have a hard time trying new things, and suddenly, to them, the country is filled with people and cultures that they can’t interact with.
Can I make the jump from traveling to immigrants and LGBT+? I think so. If you spend your time in a bubble all the time where you never talk to people who have different experiences, never experience new things, then of course you’re not going to be good at dealing with change.
It’s your brain’s fault.
When we say that we get into a rut, most people don’t realize how actually true that is. The more we do something, the better the connections in our brain that helps us do that thing get stronger and physically larger. Other neurons in our brains literally wilt away and can even die from disuse.
Yes, so, if you drive the interstate highway system, the backbone of this great and messed up country of ours, it’s actually killing your brain! Now, isn’t that uniquely American?
Related to that, I get so tired of people who complain about the weather. So many people just seem like they would just be so happy if they could live in a bubble where the weather never gets below 75 degrees and it never rains. Me, I’d find that especially boring. Weather is a part of our world and learning to adapt to it actually keeps you more mentally healthy. Yes, I know that people have legitimate reasons for hating the cold, or the heat, I get that. Weather bones is a thing, so is getting overheated. Adapt. Your brain will be healthier. Also, if you stop complaining about the weather, you’ll be happier, your friends will be happier and you’ll have more time and energy to complain about the things that really matter, like the person who keeps stealing all the toilet paper from the bathrooms.
All is not lost though. We can reclaim the magic of Route 66 without having to deal with the frustration of the now fragmented and sad sections of the remaining highway. We just need to do something different. I’ve traveled enough to know that there is usually something interesting no matter where you go. I don’t just mean the tourist traps either. Whenever I get to go to a new place, I like to look for the places that the locals go to. You may not get what you want, you may not even be able to eat the food but doing that you’ve formed new connections in your brain and didn’t just reinforce ones that already existed.
Maybe this doesn’t sound useful to you, but believe me when I say that the data shows that people who experience new things, who stretch their boundaries, tend to live longer, happier and lowers the chances of the early onset dementia.
I don’t know about you but I don’t want to become a blithering idiot before my time.
It pays to live a little while you still can. Sure, it’s a little more risky and sometimes you have to look around for something but it’s worth the effort.
Bonus video:
