at choir rehearsal on monday, one of my friends was stuck in traffic and asked me to tell the director that she would be late. when the director inquired about her whereabouts, i said, “she texted me saying there was traffic on the 495.”

someone in the choir laughed and said, “you are so from california.”  i asked why, and she said it was funny how i referred to the freeway as “the 495” rather than simply “495” like they do in maryland.

i tried saying outloud, “i’m in traffic on 10, but i’ll be on 605 soon” and it just sounded so odd to me. are californians really the only ones who add “the” before the freeway number? and why do we do it?

just something to think about.