Bicycle parking at the Alewife MBTA station, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo by Arnold Reinhold. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Green Energy Times Staff
What do you do while you are commuting?
Some people spend their commuting time staring at the road, gripping a wheel, and getting stressed. Often they are either too sleepy, because they just got up, or too frazzled from the stress of the day to drive well. Most people, if they think about it, will find neither of these is really necessary, because they can greatly reduce their driving. So to answer the question, we came up with a list of things to do while you are on your way to or from work – while you leave the driving to someone else.
Do you want to get ahead in life? Try doing your homework. Are you a lawyer? Bring a file of material relating to a case. Are you a student? If so, you have lots of options of things you could be doing for homework. Are you a journalist? Bring notes and write a story. (Or better yet, work at home and avoid the commute altogether.) If you have any kind of job that requires that you do homework, do it on the commute and spend your home time with the family.
If homework requires a connection to the internet, that might still be okay. A lot of vehicles have Wi-Fi aboard. Trains very commonly have Wi-Fi aboard, and very often supply AC power for riders to plug their computers in.
Do you have a job with no homework? That is okay. Enjoy the ride. Are you a ditch digger? Try reading Pride and Prejudice, you will find it a refreshing change of pace. Have you already read Pride and Prejudice? Read it again; it really does get better on each new reading. Of course, there so many novels and other pieces of great literature to read that it can be guaranteed that you will never run out.
Perhaps you want to keep up with the news. You could read a newspaper going to work, and Green Energy Times going home.
Some people really don’t enjoy reading, of course, and they could bring along a portable DVD player. But then, dear reader, you are probably not one of those.
Another good choice might be to engage with people near by. Make friends. Talk about art history. Play games. In some places, groups of people spend the days’ commutes playing bridge, or even poker.
Of course, you could just watch the countryside go by. Or you could sleep.
If you are among the thousands of people who believe they really need to drive a car, we might feel very sorry for you. But before we give up, we should remind you that there are other choices for nearly everybody. Car-pooling is one. Driving to a Park and Ride is another.
Of course you can walk or ride to public transit or ride-shares. You get health benefits along with the money you save.
In any case, you can find value in the time you use to commute, providing you do not drive yourself. When you do that, it means that you get value instead of doing a job for which you are not paid, driving a car.
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