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Is a Great Job Worth it if the Commute to it is Shitty?
I hadn’t pondered that question too deeply until, this past Thursday evening, when my daughter called me in emotional distress.
While driving home she witnessed a horrible traffic fatality. The driver lost control of his vehicle which hit an electrical box and burst into flames. First responders found the driver dead at the scene, surrounded by flames.
And so did my daughter. That was an awful sight for her to see.
My daughter’s traumatic experience reminded me of one from early in my professional career.
During my daily commute on the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut, I witnessed a crash scene where someone behind the wheel drove head on into a large tree. State police found the driver dead. What made that visual traumatic for me was that I recognized the make, model, and color — and the license plate — of the car the person was driving from so many previous commutes on that always busy roadway.
That could have been me.
The job I worked early in my professional career was by all accounts a great one. But the commute to and from it was shitty. To get to my desk by…
