Humor: The Commute

It’s that time of year when schools let out for the summer.  It’s no doubt a challenging transition for parents to keep the kiddos busy until the school year starts up again.  But there’s one very good thing about summer recess… the work commute gets better!  No more traffic jams in front of the multiple schools you pass by on the way to work.  No more stay at home parents on the roads taking kids to school during the commute time.  No more school buses stopping every other block.  Depending on your route, this could shave a ton of time off your summer commute.  Enjoy it for a couple months! 

While the school-related delays are annoying, there’s an endless list of other frustrating factors to our daily commutes.  Like most people, some tick me off more than others.  But as I’ve gotten older (or as I call it, more mature and wise), I’ve gotten less ‘road-rage-ish’ and more ‘it is what it is-ish.’  Although many of these are general driving annoyances, they become amplified during the morning and evening commutes.  Here’s some of the most annoying pet peeves of the daily commute:       

1. Schools. School-related traffic can be the single biggest frustration. Yuck.

2. Wrecks, wrecks, wrecks. Stop calling them accidents. Bad drivers cause wrecks. And there are plenty of them out there.

3. Road construction and lane closures. It’s pretty frustrating to see closed lanes and no work being done.

4. Car in front of you sitting still when light turns green or when traffic starts moving in gridlock. These are likely the texters. Especially frustrating when they make it through the light and you don’t.

5. Tailgater. Just a jerk being a jerk.

6. Three drops of rain hit the pavement and the commute time doubles. When did people forget how to drive in the rain?

7. Lane changers. The ultimate in lack of patience. I laugh at them when I usually end up passing them (and think of the opening scene of Office Space).

8. No turn signal. They are probably holding a coffee or texting with the other hand.

9. Won’t move out into intersection waiting to make a left turn. It’s legal! Let’s get more than one car through the intersection when the light turns red.

10. Out for Sunday drive in the passing lane. In a way, I’m jealous of these people. They are in no hurry and evidently enjoying their day in traffic.

11. Inconsistent speed. Slow as a turtle when you’re behind them. But, the second you get in the passing lane to pass them, they speed up.

12. People who cut you off to pull out in front of you and then go sooooooo sloooooooow. And there wasn’t anyone behind you for miles. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

13. Extended horn honking. The ultimate in passive aggressive. I heard you already. Leaning on that horn for 10 seconds is just plain obnoxious.

14. Can’t park in between lines. So simple yet so difficult for many people.

On a serious note, I have a simple cure for commute anxiety: leave yourself extra time for the commute in the morning; get in the mindset/expectation of the drive taking 25% longer than you currently expect (i.e. plan 40 min commute to take 50 min). If you plan for the longer commute, the less anxiety you’ll experience from all the other idiots on the road and you’ll be less stressed when you get to the office.