As someone who lives an hour from campus, I was in complete shock when I saw the news of the I-85 bridge fire. So many thoughts ran through my mind once it collapsed and I was suddenly worried about how long it would take to get to school and work now and how this would impact my commute everyday. Much like hundreds, if not thousands, of daily commuters, I'm stuck in the midst of the mess that is now I-85. Not only is this entire situation an inconvenience, but it will takes months to repair. As someone who hates traffic more than anything in the world, I made a list of all the thoughts that went through my mind during the fire and collapse:

1. "How long will my commute be now?"

2. "Getting an apartment in downtown has suddenly moved to my top priority."

3. "There goes the easiest way for me to get downtown."

4. "Traffic on 78 will be ten times worse than it already is."

5. "Guess I'll just spend time in the library until traffic dies down a little."

6. "This could not have been a more inconvenient time."

7. "Of course this would happen in the middle of rush hour traffic."

8. "Thank God I'm at work right now and not driving home."

9. "Oh my God it collapsed."

10. "How does a bridge just fall??"

11. "Say goodbye to 85 for the next six to seven months."

12. "Time to download hella podcasts to listen to while I spend almost five hours in traffic everyday."

13. "Why did I decide to commute this semester?"

14. "This is the worst thing ever."

15. "The only good thing about this is that no one got hurt."

16. "I still can't believe it just collapsed."

17. "I am shook."

While some of these thoughts are sarcastic, it's definitely a stressful event. I'm glad no one was injured during the fire or collapse, and I hope that the recovery process for 85 doesn't take as long as expected. Here's to the traffic filled and long commute months ahead of us!