back at it again
early to rise drive in dark
low country commute
I woke up this morning and looked at the clock about 5 minutes before the alarm went off.
Resigned to what it is, I reached over and clicked off the alarm before it went off, got up, started the coffee, showered, dressed and drove off to work, all in the dark.
Driving in the early dark again to avoid being stuck in my car for too long lengths of time.
For 12 years I commuted into downtown Atlanta.
It was a drive you could make in 30 minutes … if you left early enough and all the 1,000s of drivers cooperated.
If you left later, the time it took to travel grew exponentially.
Now I work for a resort that is on an island on the Atlantic Coast of South Carolina.
The thing is that if you work for a living you most likely cannot afford to live on the island.
So all of us who work on the island have to commute to work from somewhere in the low country so we can provide the amenities of resort island life to those who can afford to be on the island.
I understand this is new, that as recent as 4 years ago, there was affordable housing on the island.
Once equity driven real estate management took over, affordable rental property for housing disappeared as it was purchased and turned into short term vacation rentals.
I also understand this is happening across the country from Long Island to Jackson Hole.
Here in the low country, we all have to be at work between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. in the morning.
It is called the trade parade.
Toss in the traffic created by getting kids to school and add in that there is only one bridge to get on to the island and you get a commute worthy of Atlanta.
If I leave early enough my drive takes about 20 minutes.
If I leave later, the time it takes to travel grows exponentially.
Like my drive in Atlanta, if I had to choose, I would rather leave early and have some quiet time at my desk rather than leave later and have a lot less quiet but a lot more time in my car.
There are some benefits to where I work.
I do get to see the coast for a few seconds and often some wonderful sunrises.
Interesting to note that I hit a sunrise window for about 2 weeks in the spring and fall and then another two weeks with the time change.
I am not commuting in Atlanta where my angst over my drive was compounded by the angst that the nasty people I worked for required me to be in the office while allowing other people who were part of the team I was on, to work remotely. (Looking back, I had a great job in ATL, that was a lot of fun and I worked WITH some great people, but I worked FOR others who made it their business to make my job as awful as possible.)
And I can review my life on my drive to work and wonder what I did to deserve such a life – then I go all over the reasons why I got the life I deserve.
And I can walk the beach on my lunch break if I am a mind too. That alone puts me in a very very select minority of the world’s work force.
Employee Survey: Question #11) Are you able to access the beach on your lunch hour?
I bet that puts me in a the .001% of those who answered yes, of anyone working today.
Happy to say I work a hybrid schedule which means Monday and Friday, I get to work remote.
Which means that tomorrow, at this time, I will still be in bed.
No Haiku For You 