Very few things are actually agreed upon.
Is it better to rent or buy? Is coffee good or bad for you? Should the Chinese military buildup concern us? No one really knows, and just to make matters worse, really really smart people disagree on these things, leaving the rest of us to sort of throw our hands up at times.
One exception to this rule, though, concerns the way we commute to work. Commutes have been studied every which way, many times, for many years, and in many places. Guess what? People who commute by car tend to be more miserable than those who commute via other means. Most people enjoy walking or cycling, not to mention the physical boost those activities provide. People whose commutes primarily consist of train or bus rides frequently describe the sense of happiness they feel when they arrive at work...after all, they've had time to themselves to think, listen to music, read the paper, or do whatever else they do when they can just sit there and not be bothered.
My commute these days involves two walks (home to Gallagher, and from North Station over the bridge to Sloan), plus the 40+ minute train ride. I love it.
Here's why: The commute gives me time to do things that I would want to do anyway. I love to read (that's how I spend the train time), and I love to walk (not just for its own sake, but also because it's going to help out with what I wrote about a couple entries ago).
Also, going from the first to last stop along the line each way means there's no risk associated with napping.
Is it better to rent or buy? Is coffee good or bad for you? Should the Chinese military buildup concern us? No one really knows, and just to make matters worse, really really smart people disagree on these things, leaving the rest of us to sort of throw our hands up at times.
One exception to this rule, though, concerns the way we commute to work. Commutes have been studied every which way, many times, for many years, and in many places. Guess what? People who commute by car tend to be more miserable than those who commute via other means. Most people enjoy walking or cycling, not to mention the physical boost those activities provide. People whose commutes primarily consist of train or bus rides frequently describe the sense of happiness they feel when they arrive at work...after all, they've had time to themselves to think, listen to music, read the paper, or do whatever else they do when they can just sit there and not be bothered.
My commute these days involves two walks (home to Gallagher, and from North Station over the bridge to Sloan), plus the 40+ minute train ride. I love it.
Here's why: The commute gives me time to do things that I would want to do anyway. I love to read (that's how I spend the train time), and I love to walk (not just for its own sake, but also because it's going to help out with what I wrote about a couple entries ago).
Also, going from the first to last stop along the line each way means there's no risk associated with napping.
1 comment:
I'm from the Southland. I love freeways. I think the person who wrote to The Boston Globe a while back that fixing the 93/95 mixing bowl was evil because it would encourage people to drive more is, deep down inside, a fascist. With a lower case "f", but still...
Regards — Cliff
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