When we first moved to Shepherdstown, we had a little trouble adjusting to the pace. For a long time we were always early when we went anywhere. We just automatically figured in the traffic delays that we were use to any place we went. But in Shepherdstown, there wasn’t a traffic problem and it took us some time to adjust to it — living in a place with no “rush hour” was completely new to us. I was thinking about that the other day and I wonder how the term rush hour came to be.
To me, “rush hour” makes no sense. Take the “rush” part — no one can rush because there are too many cars on the road. I suppose that “rush” must really refer, not to speed, but to the rush of people that flood the roads, and public transportation systems trying to get home — or somewhere.
And if you think about it, the “hour” part is even more misleading than the “rush” part. Where we used to live in Norther Virginia, I guarantee you that “hour” lasts a lot longer than 60 minutes. So the “hour” of “rush hour” is not your traditional chronological hour. It’s some vague, unmeasured block of time. I guess you could say the same thing about the “hour” in “happy hour.” And now that I think about it, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. In fact, since we’ve moved to Shepherdstown, I’ve kind of traded rush hour for happy hour……
— 30 —