Leave at 5 or at 10? My father-in-law and I took two cars
Editors' DilemmaOctober 28, 2026· Be the first to vote
A story made up by our editors to get the debate going, not a real account.
My side
Every summer, we join my husband’s family in Florida, an eight-hour drive. We make the trip with my father-in-law, who lives near us. He wants to leave at 5 a.m., “to beat the traffic.” I want to leave at 10, after a real breakfast, because at 5 a.m. I can’t string two words together. This year, neither of us gave in. Result: two cars. He left at 5, we left at 10. He got there at 1 p.m. and sent us a photo of himself in his swim trunks by the pool. We got there at 9 p.m., after six hours of traffic.
Their side
My father-in-law thinks leaving early is common sense: less heat, less traffic, and the afternoon by the water. He’s been making this drive for thirty years, he knows every trap on the road. According to him, I could have easily slept in the car. He finds it ridiculous to have paid for gas and tolls twice out of pure pride.
So, who's wrong?
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