I was going to come up with some flowery title like, "Why I Wouldn't Drive to Work Even If They Let Me Park for Free," which is true, but why say all that when you can sum it up in two words:
Driving sucks.
Which is why my fourth task in the Green Living Challenge was easy:
Driving sucks.
Which is why my fourth task in the Green Living Challenge was easy:
Don’t drive one day a week (use public transportation, bike, carpool, or telecommute)
I already Metro to work every day and 90% of the time it's smooth as silk. There are infrequent days when there are delays and trains are crowded, but then again, if I was driving there would be backups a lot more than 10% of the time.
Just this morning, I got a reminder of what life would be like if I drove to work every day. I'm heading up to Pennsylvania right after work to visit a friend, so The Green Girlfriend, a coworker, and I carpooled from Ballston to McPherson Square. After slogging through the rain-slowed traffic to the point of a simmering low-level road rage, we found a parking lot under my office building. There we were greeted by the Parking Nazi, an attendant who demanded I re-park my car three times to within inches of his specifications, a problem that was exacerbated because he:
1) Didn't give instructions or speak English very wellSo I went to another parking lot and ended up 5 minutes late for work. Needless to say, I won't be giving up my SmarTrip card anytime soon.
2) Insisted he gave clear instructions and spoke perfectly fine English and it was all three of us who couldn't understand him
And why would I? My commute only takes 30 minutes door-to-door, including a walk through Oakland Park past some blossoming trees. I've read more books in the last year of Metroing than I had in the previous five years (which is sorta sad but true). I'm guaranteed exercise every day, with 20 minutes of walking round-trip. And since we both go to work at the same time, I'm also guaranteed daily time with The Green Girlfriend. Points for this action: 15
Total points to date: 60
Points needed to complete Green Living Challenge: 100
3 comments:
Agreed. Driving creates more pain than it's worth. I ditched my car several years ago and seldom miss it.
100% agreement here. I love riding metro, and I love the time it gives me to read.
You shouldn't always drive simply for utility, you would find driving can be fun.
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