Every time the chain gets congested, I check the mempool.

That feeling is a bit like waiting in line during rush hour: you think clicking "send" is the end, but you've just entered the queue.
Someone in front adds a tip to cut in line, and your transaction keeps getting stuck;
the longer it stays stuck, the more likely nodes will treat it as an "expired batch" and slowly kick it out.
What's more awkward is when you resend with a higher fee, and the previous one isn't fully dead,
you're fighting yourself, with your balance and nonce getting all tangled up...
Honestly, during congestion, you're experiencing a psychological game of "waiting for others to go first."

Recently, modularization and the DA layer narrative are hot again,
developers are talking excitedly, while users are still asking "Why is my transfer so slow?"
Anyway, now when I see on-chain queues, I don't argue anymore,
first, I remove any authorizations I can revoke, and deal with it tomorrow.