GETTING TO WORK

GETTING TO WORK

More accurately remembering getting to work.

I think the thing I miss the least about being retired is commuting to work.  I commuted in many different ways, none were anything but miserable.  Actually one commute was enjoyable, I’ll save that for last.

In my 40 years of employ, I mostly commuted to work by train.  The train commute was not always too bad.  Sometimes you got a seat, the train was on time, and the conductor was not an asshole.  Most of the time you either had to stand or you sat next to a talker, a sneezer, or a read-over-the-shoulderer, and the conductor was in fact an asshole.

Standing on a rocking train is understandably miserable.  Sitting next to an annoying passenger needs no explanation.  Asshole conductors need some description.  

When you leave you monthly ticket in the seat holder so you can nap and the conductor wakes you to hand it back, he is an asshole.  When you display a no longer valid ticket because you forgot to get a new monthly ticket, instead of saying, “Excuse me sir, this is last month’s ticket, do you have the new one” says instead, “What is this?” He is an asshole.  When you had too much to drink at the Christmas party and the conductor wakes you up as you are pulling away to say you missed your stop, he is an asshole.  When he asks for additional fare because you are traveling past your stop, he is a big asshole.  I could go on, suffice it to say, I did not like most of the train conductors.

Getting to the train was not fun.  Part of the problem was I was always cutting the schedule tight.  Most of my time I drove, about a 15 to 20-minute-high anxiety drive because I was always a little late.  Also, years ago my dad told me when buying a house always buy east of the train station so the sun is not in your eyes going and returning from the station.  I did not heed his admonition; bad mistake. 

The last few years of my career, I lived an easy walk one block away from the train.  That made my commute only half as bad as before.

What was the one commute that was somewhat enjoyable?  For one year, I lived in an apartment on Staten Island, New York.  From my balcony, I had a view of the city, the Statue of Liberty, and the Staten Island Ferry bringing commuters back and forth to the city. 

The Ferry; that was the commute I enjoyed.

A ten-minute bus ride to the ferry was not the greatest, but the ferry was the best commute ever.  Grab a Daily News Paper for 8 cents, buy coffee on the boat for 15 cents, and get a nice seat as you glide along past the Statue of Liberty on to lower Manhattan.  This was a trip tourists came from miles away to enjoy.  In the warm weather, you sat outside and enjoyed the smell of sea air with your coffee and paper.  The trip was about twenty minutes and cost a nickel…I believe it is now free.

I don’t miss the train, I certainly don’t miss the conductors, I don’t miss the driving, or even the walking to get to work, but I do kind of miss that Ferry Ride.