Commuting Week

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but the summer is basically over. We have about four days until Labor Day weekend, which may bring football and my birthday, but it will also bring the harsh grip of old man winter.

The other painful reality that comes with the beginning of the autumn months is the sudden influx of commuters that always sneaks up on us. Since May, schools have been out and families have been on vacation, which lightens traffic to a much more bearable level. And then, Labor Day hits. Your daily drive increases by twenty minutes. Your Subway/Metro ride now has you jammed like a rat against the car wall, and that's if you're lucky enough to even find room. And if you ride a bus, well...rent a gun and buy a bullet.

Depending on your job there are a few ways to avoid the blunt of the traffic world. For instance, ask your boss if it's possible for you to come in later and leave later. They'll usually be hesitant, but when you explain that it's taking you two and a half hours to get to work lately, they may be reluctant to oblige. That's when you start scamming. My last job I normally arrived around 8:30am, but had that changed to 10am after I pleaded with my company for a few weeks. The deal was that I would leave the office at 6:30pm instead of my usual 5pm, to which I agreed.

Of course, after 5:30pm no one in their right mind is still in the office, and I either went to the gym in my building, or simply left for the day. And no one was the wiser. I would set Outlook to send a delayed email to my boss at 6:12pm every day about nothing in particular, just in case they were getting suspicious. Doing this, along with my two hour lunch break, usually meant I was only at my desk for roughly five hours a day, or 25 hours a week. Interestingly enough, I was not promoted after my one year mark with the company, thus forcing me to resign. They don't know what they're missing.

If you've lived in the D.C. area, then you understand what real commuting traffic is. And I'm not talking about going from your one bedroom condo in Alexandria to your government job on the Hill. That takes 15 minutes no matter what time of day or what time of year it is. I'm talking about the hell that is living downtown and driving out to Reston or Tyson's Corner, what some would think is 'against traffic'. For you NYC'ers, this is the equivalent of living in Manhattan and driving to your job in Staten Island. Basically, you're a big enough baller to live in the actual city, but your company is a cheap-ass enterprise that has decided to locate in the suburbs. When you take a job with a company like that, don't expect them to match your 401K.

All week we will go through different in's and out's of the commuting world, so send in some thoughts/questions if you have them. We need to get through this hell together.