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My Secret Commute

 
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I've just been reading an interesting newspaper article on commuting by train. Unlike the normal stuff you can often read about train journeys in the UK, this one was pretty positive. Reading it, I had to agree - I actually like my train commute.

This is quite strange to admit. Complaining about transport problems is second only to moaning about the weather in an average Briton's List Of Things To Talk About, and I'm no different. When things go wrong I tend to moan about the stupid trains, or when the weather is hot I complain about the conditions on the train, but that doesn't tell the full story.

In most cases it is actually a pretty good way to travel into work. Being able to sit down for half an hour and read the paper, or a book, or day dream a bit isn't really that bad. Other people play computer games or even watch a film. Its a relaxing way to start and end the day. The other thread about reading, in which several people mentioned having no time to read, makes me realise how great it is to have an hour to read every day while travelling. Give me the choice of that or sitting in a traffic jam for the same amount of time, and I'll pick the train every time.

The best bit is that at the end of the day you get to have a satisfying moan about the transport system to other people who don't realise that its actually not that bad

Anyone else also secretly enjoy their commute?
 
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Originally posted by Dave Lenton:
Anyone else also secretly enjoy their commute?



I do! For exact same reasons as you mentioned!

I used to live about 10 miles away from work, and it used to take me nearly an hour of bumper-to-bumper traffic, I used to be wrecked even before I got into work! I then moved to a town thirty-five miles away from work, and one of the reasons was the train commute � two minutes to the station, grab your favorite seat, read/work/movies/games/music or just sleep and I am at work in an hours time! These days I buy books with the money I saved on petrol!
 
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I used to have a half hour drive across Nebraska farmland. One or two 90 degree turns, gentle hills. I often got home and remembered none of the drive. It was a 65 mph nap.
 
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the other side of travelling by train in rush hour is the crush of people around you, everyone scrambling for one of the very few empty seats.
Sweaty bodies rubbing together whether you want it or not, being stuck if you have a seat at all next to a 400 pound woman who decides to take as much space as possible, or else if it is quiet sharing the compartment with a youth who's quite openly sizing you up for a mugging (had that earlier this week in fact, left the train a stop early and waited for the next one).
 
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Originally posted by Dave Lenton:
Anyone else also secretly enjoy their commute?


Most of the time. That's when I read.

I don't enjoy it when the train gets stuck, but that's somewhat comparable to the traffic jam you'd get if driving.
 
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