<story><title>How the pandemic has affected people’s perspective on travelling to work</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/28/seven-uk-workers-talk-about-travelling-work-commute-covid-pandemic</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>nextlevelwizard</author><text>&amp;gt; I also *have* to cycle through often horrible weather(...)&lt;p&gt;Except you do not, do you? If the weather is horrible more often than not and you still choose to bicycle then that is on you. Same goes for people who complain that their commute takes upto 2 hours. That is&amp;#x2F;was a choice you made when you chose your living arrangement and employer.&lt;p&gt;I know I get downvoted for this opinion since it goes against majority of HN, but commute and office work are both really nice and I miss them. I hope come next month our office opens up and I can start going to work again. But my situation is way different. I&amp;#x27;ve purposely chosen both my employer and my living situation to suite me. I have 15-25 minute drive to office. My gym is on the way and there is several choices of grocery stores, so I can get additional benefit for my commute. On top of that the 20 minutes of driving back home is very nice book end to day of working and I can leave the office completely behind me and just have a nice drive and listen some music. In same toon in the morning I can hit the gym and then have a nice drive to office and start focusing on the work immediately.&lt;p&gt;It is fine if you don&amp;#x27;t like your commute or your office, but don&amp;#x27;t take it personally when someone says that they like it.</text></item><item><author>BoxOfRain</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m completely different, I despise my commute because it&amp;#x27;s time that doesn&amp;#x27;t truly belong to me and I&amp;#x27;m not being paid for. It&amp;#x27;s getting up earlier and arriving home later for the exclusive purpose of mindless presenteeism, time that belongs to my boss rather than to me because I certainly wouldn&amp;#x27;t be doing it out of choice. I also have to cycle through often horrible weather around drivers who I can only presume have WW2 fighter style marks for how may cyclists they&amp;#x27;ve managed to run off the road.&lt;p&gt;My next job will be exclusively remote, and I&amp;#x27;ll be much better off for it. I don&amp;#x27;t mind what other people choose to do, as long as I&amp;#x27;m not forced to participate in the return to the office.</text></item><item><author>brtkdotse</author><text>&amp;gt; Christina Cage, a 38-year-old chartered accountant in Edinburgh, did not appreciate how important her commute was until she stopped doing it. “I came to realise that my commute was a time where I could transition from being a mum to becoming a colleague with a bit of space in between to myself,” says Cage, who has two young children. “Overnight it became a threshold of a door that didn’t close.”&lt;p&gt;While I can’t say I’d like to pay the price of 2x50 minutes each day, I too miss that piece of time that was truly mine and mine alone. I used it to read, do a mediation or just space out and let my mind wander.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>BoxOfRain</author><text>For the record, I don&amp;#x27;t really choose to cycle. Public transport is absolutely dreadful in much of the UK outside of London (I&amp;#x27;m not exaggerating when I say it&amp;#x27;s an hour and a half to go six miles on a bus that often is 30-40 minutes late or doesn&amp;#x27;t turn up at all) and I don&amp;#x27;t have a driver&amp;#x27;s licence for medical reasons. These medical issues are now controlled, but the post-lockdown backlog for driving tests is insane so that&amp;#x27;s not an immediate option for me. At any rate it&amp;#x27;s wrong from a disability rights point of view to assume that driving is an option for everyone.</text></comment>
<story><title>How the pandemic has affected people’s perspective on travelling to work</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/28/seven-uk-workers-talk-about-travelling-work-commute-covid-pandemic</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>nextlevelwizard</author><text>&amp;gt; I also *have* to cycle through often horrible weather(...)&lt;p&gt;Except you do not, do you? If the weather is horrible more often than not and you still choose to bicycle then that is on you. Same goes for people who complain that their commute takes upto 2 hours. That is&amp;#x2F;was a choice you made when you chose your living arrangement and employer.&lt;p&gt;I know I get downvoted for this opinion since it goes against majority of HN, but commute and office work are both really nice and I miss them. I hope come next month our office opens up and I can start going to work again. But my situation is way different. I&amp;#x27;ve purposely chosen both my employer and my living situation to suite me. I have 15-25 minute drive to office. My gym is on the way and there is several choices of grocery stores, so I can get additional benefit for my commute. On top of that the 20 minutes of driving back home is very nice book end to day of working and I can leave the office completely behind me and just have a nice drive and listen some music. In same toon in the morning I can hit the gym and then have a nice drive to office and start focusing on the work immediately.&lt;p&gt;It is fine if you don&amp;#x27;t like your commute or your office, but don&amp;#x27;t take it personally when someone says that they like it.</text></item><item><author>BoxOfRain</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m completely different, I despise my commute because it&amp;#x27;s time that doesn&amp;#x27;t truly belong to me and I&amp;#x27;m not being paid for. It&amp;#x27;s getting up earlier and arriving home later for the exclusive purpose of mindless presenteeism, time that belongs to my boss rather than to me because I certainly wouldn&amp;#x27;t be doing it out of choice. I also have to cycle through often horrible weather around drivers who I can only presume have WW2 fighter style marks for how may cyclists they&amp;#x27;ve managed to run off the road.&lt;p&gt;My next job will be exclusively remote, and I&amp;#x27;ll be much better off for it. I don&amp;#x27;t mind what other people choose to do, as long as I&amp;#x27;m not forced to participate in the return to the office.</text></item><item><author>brtkdotse</author><text>&amp;gt; Christina Cage, a 38-year-old chartered accountant in Edinburgh, did not appreciate how important her commute was until she stopped doing it. “I came to realise that my commute was a time where I could transition from being a mum to becoming a colleague with a bit of space in between to myself,” says Cage, who has two young children. “Overnight it became a threshold of a door that didn’t close.”&lt;p&gt;While I can’t say I’d like to pay the price of 2x50 minutes each day, I too miss that piece of time that was truly mine and mine alone. I used it to read, do a mediation or just space out and let my mind wander.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nerdponx</author><text>&amp;gt; I&amp;#x27;ve purposely chosen both my employer and my living situation to suite me.&lt;p&gt;You&amp;#x27;re very fortunate to have had both the opportunity and ability to do this. Many people are not.&lt;p&gt;HN users with their top-of-market salaries and offices in downtown centers tend to forget this.</text></comment>