Via Kate, this guy should be an inspiration to us all: Dave Givens, an electrical engineer, has a 350-mile, 7-hour daily commute. He works in San Jose, CA, and lives in Mariposa, CA. And he loves it. "I have the balance right now," Givens told Reuters. "I could do similar jobs closer, but not with the work reward and job satisfaction I have. And I could live closer, but I wouldn't have the lifestyle that I desire. To me, this is not that long a commute. It's just something I do to go to work."
Ouch. I mean, I'm all for positive attitudes, but that's a glutton for punishment. And to so strongly desire a job in San Jose? Inexplicable. Reminds me of the old Tom Lehrer lyric:
If you visit American city,
You will find it very pretty.
Just two things of which you must beware:
Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air.[...]
Pollution, pollution,
Wear a gas mask and a veil.
Then you can breathe, long as you don't inhale.
Lots of things there that you can drink,
But stay away from the kitchen sink.
The breakfast garbage that you throw in to the Bay,
They drink at lunch in San Jose.
But Givens is giving us a larger truth. Many of the most enraging aspects of modern life -- housing prices, commutes, urban overpopulation -- are irritants we choose to engage with. Housing prices aren't universally high, they're just engorged in coastal areas and dense cities. When you want to live where everyone else wants to live...
Commuting is similar. it's the desire to balance a particular job in a particular place with a certain level of lifestyle and affluence. Because dense areas offer more jobs but less square footage, folks hoping for a yard and a picket fence choose a commute. It sucks, but it's a choice.
