Stuck in traffic
From my old emails: “10 Reasons to Telecommute”, a list on HowStuffWorks. I accessed the article in 2012; it primarily cites studies from 2008 and earlier. Everything the article says, still applies: staying home instead of commuting to work may reduce stress, pollution, gasoline usage and transportation costs. Businesses can save money on rent by having more employees work at home instead of in an office, and perks in the office can be reduced or eliminated. Productivity doesn’t have to go down and may go up, as people spend less time on the road and more time actually accomplishing things. The article ends with citing a study that showed struggling with traffic increases the likelihood of a heart attack within an hour after leaving the situation.
Society has shifted a large chunk of its base, not because telecommuting is a good option, not because technology has advanced to make it possible, but because God allowed a pandemic. Our reactions to the pandemic, I’m sure God predicted. Foreseen it! He allowed us to gain the ability to work at home and order online, but when we didn’t move that way with any speed, He provided a catalyst. We could choose to continue as we were, and take the consequences. We chose to shift our behavior: we order online, we work remotely, we live where we can afford to and we text rather than call.
How many other things are we clinging to, because it’s how we’ve always done things? By “always done things”, I mean, in my lifetime, in the lifetime of the decision makers. It’s been this way for as long as I can remember, which is only about 30 years, 40 if it’s something school-related. Traditions are only useful if they still serve us well.
I got stuck in traffic today; there was an accident or something blocking the road. It took a half hour to travel three miles. The alternate routes were also congested, because many other people shifted their routes. I got through it listening to a collection of romantic ending scenes from Jane Austen movie adaptations. At one point my daughter and I almost bawled, holding hands, as Edward Ferris explained again that he’s unmarried, and the actress Emma Thompson sobbed her heart out, relief and pent up sorrow and joy all together. I miss my husband so much. What I would give to have him with me, even knowing we’re better off in some ways and worse off in others and it totally would not work to have him alive during the pandemic and we’re not the same people we were when he was alive, partly because he has not been here.
Does that count as a heart attack? It felt cathartic.
