Commuting is hard. For the last three weeks I have been living at my parents' house in Boca and driving to work in Miami. Every morning I have to get up no later than 6 a.m. so I can avoid traffic. If I leave at 6:15 a.m., I get to the office by 7:30 a.m. If I leave by 6:30 a.m., my ETA is in Jesus's hands—I could get there by 8 a.m., 9 a.m. or next year.
Waking up earlier is hard, but the hardest part is how much time commuting consumes of my day. I wake up, drive to work, work late to avoid traffic, drive home, eat dinner, sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat. There's no time to eat breakfast. There's no time to work out. There's no time to read. Only drive and work, work and drive.
Mass transit has not been a viable alternative. When I tell people I'm commuting from Boca, every single person asks, "Why don't you take the Brightline?" Some—cough, Nelson, cough—even asked twice. Well, friends, mass transit in South Florida isn't designed for my needs. The Brightline stations? One is 30 minutes north, the other 30 minutes south of my parents' place and the one in Miami is a 15 minute drive from my office. The option is inconvenient at best, nonsensical if we're honest.
Using the Tri-Rail warrants a similar odyssey that if I'm lucky, takes two hours. My dad has taken it to and from Miami Beach a few times. One time he missed the connection from the metro mover to the Tri-Rail and he had to wait one hour for the next train. I'm already struggling to fit sleeping, working and driving into 24-hours. Ain't nobody got time for three-hour journeys each way. I take cross-country flights that take less time, for Pete's sake! Therefore, I drive.
The one advantage to driving in my own car is all the time I have to listen. I listen to friends, whose personal anecdotes pepper the monotonous journey up and down 95 with excitement. I listen to podcasts, like This American Life, the HBR Ideacast and Dr. Death, whose unique subject matter makes for great water cooler conversation. And, I listen to music old and new. Most recently, I started working my way through two stacks of mixtape CDs I made in high school that I found in the back of my mom's closet.
Let the record show that no perk outweighs the struggle of the commute. The good news is my time as a commuter comes to an end this Wednesday when I move into a new apartment within walking distance of my office. Yes I'm excited to have my own space again, but I'm more excited to regain four hours per day with which to do whatever I please. 'Til then, please send good vibes (and podcast recommendations). Thank you, Miami.
all so true no good alternative Moko Should've stopped by the old hood while in town.
ReplyDeletePodcast recommendation: Felonious Florida, The Gist, Up First, The Daily
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