There’s this collection of Hot Wheels-style tracks and cars at a place in northern California. The owners can’t quite decide on a name. The guide calls it ‘Race Town’ and I’ve seen everything from ‘Carville’ to ‘A Place for Speed.’ Some ideas work better than others. This time around, the sign says ‘Live Free or Die-Cast’ and it’s difficult for me to tell whether that’s the new name or just a motto they’re throwing around.
The inside is the same every time.
A thousand cars. A thousand, thousand miles of flexible orange roadway. The whir of those spinning foam boosters that propel inanimate cars along their tracks. A distant smell of candy from the gift shop. The trouble with this car place is a well-meaning gimmick- an AI that analyzes reported traffic patterns from the city nearby and changes up the placement and speed of cars based on its understanding. It’s not real life, exactly, but it’s a sort of symbolic representation.
And every time I’m stopped by, it’s been gridlock traffic.
-traveler
