Acceleration Lane

Old Liu was late again today. It wasn't because he overslept, but because his city had recently introduced a traffic rule called "Smart Person Acceleration Lane."

Specifically, if you had made more than three constructive suggestions in company meetings, or published more than two industry papers, or completed an "valuable" innovative project in the boss's eyes within the past year, your driver's license would be automatically marked as "smart person," and the vehicle identification system would be updated accordingly. Vehicles with this mark could use a dedicated acceleration lane during the morning rush hour, allowing them to move smoothly without any obstruction.

Of course, Old Liu wasn't a "smart person." He was a down-to-earth programmer who completed his work methodically every day, occasionally complaining about bugs with his colleagues, and nothing more. He watched those vehicles with special markings whizzing past him like arrows, feeling a mixture of envy and helplessness. He knew he would probably never have the chance to get on that smooth and unobstructed road in his life.

Today's traffic jam was particularly bad, and Old Liu's car moved as slowly as a snail. He looked at the time, there were still ten minutes left before he had to clock in at work, and he estimated he would be docked pay again. Just then, the car in front of him suddenly accelerated and left the congested queue. Old Liu was stunned for a moment, and when he looked closely, he recognized the car's license plate - it was Li, the new intern at his company. Li had only been with the company for less than a month, and his biggest hobby every day was quietly scrolling on his phone. Old Liu wondered, how could he possibly become a "smart person"?

Curious, Old Liu opened his phone and searched for information about "Smart Person Acceleration Lane" to see if there were any hidden evaluation criteria. The first piece of information that popped up on the page shocked him.

"According to the latest revised regulations, to encourage young people to be proactive, drivers under the age of 22 will automatically be granted the 'smart person' mark by the system."

Old Liu almost threw his phone away. He suddenly understood that the so-called "smart" had nothing to do with ability or contribution, it was simply related to age. He remembered the news he saw yesterday about an 80-year-old academician who was also stuck in the morning rush hour because of his old age, while beside him, cars driven by twenty-year-old "smart people" were speeding by.

He suddenly laughed, the laughter tinged with sarcasm and a hint of sadness. He pressed the horn, emitting a faint beep. Someone else honked their horn in the traffic jam, as if responding to him. They were all "not smart" people, trapped in this unsolvable maze.

Suddenly, Old Liu's car jolted violently. He thought he had been rear-ended and was about to get out to argue when he realized the car was actually moving. He looked up and saw that he had actually entered the "Smart Person Acceleration Lane"! The surrounding cars swerved to both sides as if they had seen a plague.

He looked at his phone in panic. It turned out that the system had a bug and mistakenly identified his car as a "smart person", and it also warned him that he had been driving in the acceleration lane for over 20 minutes.

He thought, this is truly an absurd world. The problem he had racked his brains to solve was suddenly solved today due to a system error. He looked in the rearview mirror at the vehicles he had left behind, they were still moving slowly, like a group of sculptures forgotten in the tide of time.

He gripped the steering wheel, his heart filled with mixed feelings. He didn't know what he should do next, should he continue on this fake acceleration lane, or go back to the congested reality? He just wanted to get to the company as soon as possible, and he believed that even if he was late, he could quickly finish his work for the day with the help of coffee.

However, when he arrived at the company, he discovered that there were so many "smart people" today that parking spots were scarce, and people were even arguing over parking spaces. And those "ordinary people" who didn't get on the acceleration lane were mostly late because of the traffic jam, making the company particularly quiet.

Old Liu found his seat, turned on his computer, and looked at the empty office, he suddenly felt that even if he got on the acceleration lane, what was the point? Everyone was stuck in the same place in different ways.