Thankful for Traffic

Why is it that Thanksgiving travel is the WORST kind of travel out of the whole year? 


I contemplated this when I was driving back to Dallas today from Austin. Normally my short little trip is between a 3-3 1/2 hour drive, but today it took me nearly 4 1/2 hours to get back to Dallas. As I was driving I saw the same sign multiple times: "Thanksgiving Traffic. Expect delays Wednesday-Sunday." 


Before I began my journey, I only assumed that I would hit bad traffic in Waco, since many of the drivers should be Baylor students returning to campus. But then I hit traffic in Temple, Troy, Hillsboro--- places outside of Waco. 


All of this ridiculous traffic made me come to the conclusion that it's not just college students who take the whole week off for Thanksgiving. Everybody else is taking off as well-- and leaving returning home at the last minute. 


Why isn't Christmas traffic ever this bad? Is it because people visit with their families for variable amounts of time versus one general time frame? 


Or is it because Thanksgiving is a more family-oriented holiday than Christmas? It makes sense when I think about it. For most, Christmas is not based on celebrating Christ or uniting with family, but instead, it is a complete consumer holiday. Gifts are all people ever think about when they hear the word Christmas. But Thanksgiving is a time when one goes home because they legitimately want to spend time with their families. If somebody did not want to see their family they wouldn't make the effort to come home and sit at the same table as parents, grandparents, cousins, uncles and muster through all the family talk. If somebody actually comes home or visits family for Thanksgiving, it's a symbol that they are actually thankful to have their family members in their lives. 


On that note, maybe the excessive traffic on I-35 could elicit a heartwarming outlook because the amount of people on the road represents the amount of love people have for their families (and I'm sure the airports weren't any different).