They've all come

"Kathy, I'm lost," I said, though I knew she was sleeping
"I'm empty and aching and I don't know why"
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come to look for America
All come to look for America

This was written in 1968 - no signs of global warming, no mention of ozone layer, no notion of rocketing oil prices (the price of oil was practically not changing between 1930s and 1971 -- isn't that incredible?) this was before even the oil crisis of the seventies in a world that seemed secure and perfectly maintainable.

On January 8, 2008, Governor Jon Corzine proposed a 50 percent increase in tolls on New Jersey's three toll roads in 2010, with increases of a similar percentage every four years after that, in order to help pay state debt. Each times tolls increased, there would be an additional increase for inflation since the last toll increase (for the first, since 2006). The roads would be maintained by a nonprofit corporation that would pay back bonds to the state. Under this plan, and without considering the inflation increases, tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike would have risen from $6.45 to $42.92 in 2022. It was considered possible that commuters will receive discounts from the higher toll rates. The plan, however, was not enacted due to mounting opposition from New Jersey residents (wikipedia).

Will anyone ever make a coast-to coast funride with Greyhound again? And wake up on a bus when dawn breaks? Guess only businessmen will be able to afford it, but businessmen are not the type of people who mutter to Kathy half asleep, count cars, or feel lost. It is all gone.  

Daphne and John

What a splendid idea. You hitchhike your way across USA from New England to LA with a girl. You don't care for each other but by the time you get to California you fall in love. The world should work like this.

I wonder, though, would I still be so enthusiastic about the romantic potential if I hadn't developed a crush on Daphne Zuniga? I think I would, I loved When Harry Met Sally and I never cared for Meg Ryan. Love is a result of the struggles you go through together and the more intense the experiences are, the more profound your love develops. And another factor that adds to the romantic potential: you should not notice it happening. Like when you have been drinking vodka in an armchair and you never notice you are completely drunk until you stand up and stumble immediately.