Last night I kept an eye on the mempool for a while, and when it got congested, it really looked like waiting in line: you think you've already submitted your transaction, but you're actually still at the door being jostled around. If the gas fee isn't high enough, it just stays pending; if it's high enough, it might get stuck among a bunch of same-price orders and move slowly, or even get replaced by someone else midway, and the moment it gets targeted by a miner or a "sandwich" attack, it changes the game entirely.

Recently, I've also heard rumors of increased taxes or tighter compliance in certain regions, which makes everyone more anxious about moving funds in and out, and that "hurry up and get through" mentality on the chain becomes even more obvious, making the queues even messier. Anyway, I’m just making some small patches now: use protected routing if possible, don’t push too hard, cancel and resend if you’re not in a rush, and it’s okay to be a bit slower.