Commuter rage

Leaving home at the last possible minute is probably a common practice for most commuters. On the one side of the commute there is the comfort of home and on the other side there is the office; the latter is not necessarily uncomfortable but it is not home. When time is limited, the stress of travelling may increase quite dramatically when things don't go according to plan. Some people might enjoy the exhiliration of not knowing and find it all a great big adventure. Most people would probably want a smooth ride to work without having to think about it too much because they are still trying to wake up, or in some cases still continuing with their sleep, while on whatever mode of transport they happen to be on. Dangerous if you are driving but otherwise, perhaps, quite pleasant with the gentle (?) rocking of the vehicle.

People often get angry at each other when things go wrong. Most of the time it is because they have left themselves too narrow a time margin with which to get from A to B, so it is their own fault even if they don't want to admit it. It is so much easier to blame it on the guy who was stuck at the ticket gate for the extra minute it took to get from that to the train. Of course plans should work to the minute-margin and one missing the train with that built-in margin is obviously the fault of the idiot at the gate.

There are times when no amount of planning is adequate, e.g. when someone jumps in front of a train and paralyses the line during rush hour, which seemed to happen quite a bit in the aftermath of the banking crisis. Annoying as the delay may be, taking it out on train station staff, as some people do, is not constructive and could result in you being taken away for aggressive behaviour. Yes, sometimes things go wrong because the service providers are incompetent but that is, more often than not, not the fault of the people on the ground and taking it out on them is just silly.

There are a few simple ways to avoid the stress. Leave yourself plenty of time to travel. This may involve leaving the house just that bit earlier but could save you plenty of grief, and you can still have that extra cup of coffee that you were going to have at home if you do get to the office a bit earlier than planned. Think about what you would need to do if your preferred route were not available and factor in the time needed for an alternative. Just knowing an alternative route in advance can help avoid the panic one feels when things go wrong.

Going to bed earlier and allowing oneself enough sleep is an important factor. Modern life is busy and we all want to do ten zillion things all at once but at some point we just have to admit that we can't do them all and it is perhaps more important to get enough rest. Its about choice. You can choose to go to bed an hour earlier so you get that extra hour of sleep or you can choose to spend it at a bar with your mates. Both are pleasant things to do and neither are right or wrong, as long as you are prepared to accept the consequences of those actions. Don't blame the stress of having to deal with less sleep than needed, or having to rush to work because you overslept, on someone else if you made the decision to spend the time in the bar instead.