“This is but a taste of the real world…”

Train at Franconia-Springfield stationRight now, I’m a working man! It’s providing me with somewhat of a look into what the next thirty or forty years of life are going to look like. Wake up early – 5:00 in the morning – and then get dressed for work, hop in the selected mode of transportation, and then bust a move to get to work. And then in the evening, leave work, hop in the selected mode of transportation, bust a move back home, and then peel off the business attire and put on some real clothes. Now here’s the fun part. I hit rush hour both ways! Heading to Staunton, I encounter all the people driving to Staunton as well as to Harrisonburg. And since this is Augusta County, there’s no alternatives to driving, with there being no transit-type buses, and no fancy Metro, like seen at right. I think I’d much rather stand squashed against someone who had garlic and onions for breakfast while grabbing a handrail. At least I wouldn’t have to drive in that case. Then on the way back, I have to deal with everyone leaving Staunton and dispersing back to their homes. At JMU, I would deliberately avoid the evening rush hour, and spend extra time up in Harrisonburg. Now, it’s just as well to drive, since it’s a much shorter drive from Staunton than from Harrisonburg. Still, some days the daily commute makes the work at the destination quite easy by comparison. After all, the work isn’t hazardous, unlike the drive over and back, where you’re trying not to get chewed up by all the maniacs (going faster than you) and idiots (going slower than you) around you dressed in business suits and strapped inside their little steel cocoons. Fun, eh?


Date posted: July 22, 2003