Commute

Commute

         You ever feel like you're in a rut? You dig, and you dig, and you keep digging, but there's never that treasure. All you get is dirt. You'd think after awhile you would hit something, even a gas line for God's sake. Routine is the beat to the sound of boredom.

         I live in a one bedroom apartment on the West side of Albany. I'm on the third floor. I can look out my window at any time and take in the beautiful site of a concrete wall, with weeds growing from the cracks from the sidewalk beneath it. I've never been much of a nature guy. I grew up in Western New York, near Allegheny. My childhood home was surrounded by towering trees and cheerful wildlife. I would wake up every morning to the sound of chirping from the birds that were just outside my window, and the rattling of squirrels climbing up those same trees. You have to remember this was the 1980s, so there was no waking up and turning on the computer and staring at it for hours on end like I do now. Instead, I would go downstairs, enjoy breakfast with my family, and head down the street and see what my friends were up to. Those were good times. If I visited my neighbors after breakfast in my apartment building, I would likely end up having a lengthy conversation with a police officer.

The city is...antisocial. You would think with such a huge population, there would be life. I always imagined my life in this building would be like Seinfeld, you ever catch that show? I would have a crazy neighbor who would keep me company, and friends who would stop by every so often for no reason. Instead, I never have company, and the only visitors I get are my neighbors pounding at my door asking for favors.
I wake up early. 4:30am is the perfect wake up time, and I can prove it. There's no one on the roads at 5:00am in my part of town, so my commute feels like a blazing guided tour of the city instead of a stop-and-go gas guzzling marathon. You know what clear roads mean too, right? No people! Nobody to stop me in the lobby in my building, nobody slowly walking the crosswalks, and nobody trying to leave the apartment building lot. It's truly magical.

My commute is my favorite part of my day. I get to throw on some podcasts, maybe some music, or even a podcast about music. The possibilities are endless. My commute is the one part of my day where I feel I'm in control. You think that sounds weird? Think about it. What parts of YOUR day are you truly in control? When you wake up? Nope, that determined by your work start time. When you get home? Nope, that's determined by when you get off work. What you do when you get home? Not if you have a family. Little Jimmy needs to get to soccer practice by 7pm. I can go on forever. In the morning, you can take whatever route you choose, and when you do it, and what do you during that time to yourself. It's empowering.