I spent some time in Essaouira recently, a city on the Atlantic coast south of Casablanca.  As with many Moroccan cities, Essaouira is divided into two parts: medina and ville nouvelle.  And, as with most medinas across Morocco, the medina of Essaouira is walled.  This means, of course, that there are fewer entrances and exits to the medina, such that locals – and visitors that pay attention – have specific names for each entry and exit.  Even if they are open passageways or such like, they are generally known as bab something or other, bab being the Arabic word for door.

So, as you can imagine, with only a few doors or gates into a fully walled medina like the one in Essaouira, there is the potential for serious traffic jams, especially at critical rush hours like just after sunset, when everyone gets out of the house to hang out, buy goods for the evening meal, or relax.  And, for those of you that have ever driven (or rather parked) on 695 or 495 during rush hour, this is much the same.  The situation is even worse when someone is pulled over on the shoulder.  Everyone stops to look, regardless of whether it is an accident or not, and slows down traffic for everyone.

I was reminded of the brilliance of the beltways when walking through Bab Doukkala in Essaouira.  After wandering through the medina, I found myself exiting toward the ville nouvelle – an area that is generally uninteresting in most Moroccan cities – and decided to turn back.  I noticed congestion upon exiting the medina, but did not think much of it.  It was only upon returning that I realized the problem; some fool had parked his banana cart inside Bab Marrakech in an effort to capitalize on all the traffic going and coming. 

Naturally, the Souiris were peeved.  What is this banana cart doing here?  Who’s this moron leaving it in the way of everything?  Doesn’t he know that he’s blocking traffic?  There’s supposed to be a natural order to these things, and he shouldn’t be here.  There are bicycles, people, other carts, strollers, and such like all trying to get through this arch, and this guy has deemed it fit to make all of our lives difficult.  Good grief.

From an outsider’s perspective, it was a little bit amusing.  Old women were shoving the crowd along, bespectacled men were yelling, cyclists were gesticulating, and the banana man was – besides being a fool – trying to defend his position (how’s that for some double meaning?) in vain.  Likely if the situation was more serious, like there was construction work or a beggar was sitting down because there was no other place to go, I would not find it as amusing and the locals would not complain as much.  It would more be a fact of life, one that was perceived as normal, from which people easily moved on.

What does this have to do with anything, you ask?  As Bill Nye would say, please consider the following.  First, traffic jams happen everywhere.  Everyone’s got to deal with them in some form or another, which is cause enough for us all to slow down and relax just a bit, most of all when we’re in them.  And second, I know that the next time I find myself in rush hour traffic – whether by foot, donkey, camel, bus, train, plane, or car – I will not just slow down and relax, but will also imagine that some fool (whether he’s causing the traffic jam or not) is standing off to the side with a banana cart, yelling and screaming at all the passers-by.  With any luck, I’ll arrive at my destination with a broader smile on my face and more warmth in my heart.  Give it a go; it might just make your trip home that much better.