Benefitting from Other People's Misery (and Good Fortune)

For two days in a row, it has taken me a near-impossible, record-breaking, twelve minutes to get to work [I used to consider twenty minutes record-breaking]. Yesterday, this extreme time was achieved due to the torrential rains that engulfed Sao Paulo between Monday and Tuesday. In a twenty-four hour period, 140mm of rain fell causing major floods and traffic jams. The traffic was so bad, that some of my colleagues spent three and a half hours getting to the office. The reason that I was able to get in so quickly is that the paralyzation was all to the north, south, east and west of Jardins. Since no one had yet managed to make it to the interior of the city, the way was clear and free for the rest of us! It took one of my poor colleagues 17.5 times my twelve minutes to get to work.

As for today, since it is Corpus Christi, a holiday for the rest of the country -- except for us Canadians who pick an even mix of Brazilian and Canadian holidays, and this one wasn't picked this time around -- the roads were once again clear for record-breaking time. When holidays fall on a Thursday, a lot of Brazilians will tack on the Friday to make a long weekend, so tomorrow will hopefully be a smooth ride as well!