For those of you that live outside the NYC area, you probably get up in the morning, have coffee, read the paper, before getting ready for work. You probably have a 20-minute commute into your office. OR you live in an area where taxes and expenses aren't strangling you and hubby, and you don't have to work. Me, on the other hand, ain't so lucky. We live in New York. Worse than New York...Long Island....Nassau County. I get up at 6am to maximize my sleeptime. I then race the clock for either the 6:37 am or the 7:04am train into NYC. Ninety minutes....yes, you read that right.....90 minutes after I walk out my door, I arrive at my desk. And it's the same time home. Fifteen hours a week I spend on the commute. If we lived anywhere else, we'd probably be looking at a 30-minute each-way. I'd have back 10 precious hours to my week. Mind you, we are 27 miles outside the City - when I get off the train platform in Long Beach? I can see the NYC skyline.
And the subway. I cannot even go into it without shuddering. I've told Mr. Olive I'm not sure how much longer I can take the subway! The subway uptown to Penn last week, there were high school kids on the car. I couldn't read so I merely closed my book and stared at the window. The woman next to me - also a professional who looked seasoned by the subway - looked at me and said "I don't know if I can take much more of the subway".....so we bonded for the remaining 10 minute ride. I hear ya sista.
The next morning, I cannot get on the train at Penn, so I wait for another. A guy gets on in front of me, so I'm already annoyed at him, not then not as much as the girl inside the open doors that doesn't move to let anyone else in. Pulling pulling into 14th street, the girl then needs to battle the crowd to get herself across the train to the opposite doors. The guy looks at me and says "And she couldn't move when we're trying to get in? I don't know if I can last on the subway". So I smile and relate my same subway woes. But, this guy is a 9-11 survivor who moved to Florida and was lured back by a job that he said he'd have to work for five years, until he was 45, and then he'd be able to retire and move back to Florida. He isn't sure he can make it on the trains. I don't have that same type of job where early retirement is an option.
*sigh* sorry - I just had to get it off my chest!! Tomorrow will be a new day. :-)
Oh wow. That is a lot of time on the train. I think I'd be pretty frustrated too. In Albuquerque, we have to drive. I live in suburban sprawl and while I am a mere 11 miles away from school, if I wanted to take public transportation I would have to walk 2 miles to the nearest bus stop then take 2 buses to get to school. our public transportation system sucks. The train to Santa Fe is nice though.
ReplyDeleteThis gives me a whole new perspective on my commute. I live in a suburb of Tulsa, Oklahoma. And since I work estate sales, I go to a different house each week to set up the sales. Most of the houses are right in the center of Tulsa, so it can take me anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on traffic, to get to and from work. I'll never complain about that commute again. I'm sorry it's wearing on you. That would get on my nerves too!
ReplyDelete