Not Complaining About Public Transportation or the $26 Drink

 I know I complain about my bus & light rail commute to the office.  It's a pain.  I have anxiety.  And timing on the way home can be a bitch.  Just the other afternoon my manager told me I could head out early, so I did.  I caught the light rail just as it was getting ready to pull out of the station.  Perfect timing.  I would be able to catch the earlier bus with no problem.  Then the light rail slowed down.  Then it stopped.  We waited.  It started again.  It went slow.  It stopped.  You get the picture!  By the time I got to my stop, the bus was long gone and I had a 20 minute wait to catch the next bus, the one I would have caught if I didn't leave early.  And it was running 10 minutes behind.

With all that said, I'm going to (try to) curtail my complaining about public transportation because...

For the first time ever (or since we've been in this building), I DROVE to my office.  And I have obviously turned into "that woman" because I was stressed out from the beginning, couldn't stand the traffic and still have a killer headache.

Why did I do this when public transportation is so much cheaper?  (I parked in the parking garage that is covered and is $26 for the day.  There are less expensive spots, but I wanted to park in a place where I could get in and out easily...or that was my rationale.)  Well, the team was having an after-hours "happy hour."  I had my choice of going to that, walking back to Penn station and getting the light rail to the bus (or just getting the bus if the hour was later, it depends), and then walking home and pack up my car and head to PA, OR I could pack up the car, drive it to the parking garage by the office and then leave from there, which hopefully would be faster.  (Stress on the hopefully. The jury is still out on that.)

While I do experience anxiety when taking public transportation, driving to the office is Newark really amps it up for me.  I had a pretty good idea of where I was going.  (I had to pick my son up at Newark Penn one night back in June and the office is in the same vicinity.)  I knew where the parking lots were, but I didn't know how full they might get.  So, in order to be "smart" I booked a spot on line at the one that is attached to the building that make up our complex.  This lot is open later, so I had my time slot to be 8:30 to 7.

Unlike my usual day, I didn't want to get in early because I wouldn't be leaving early.  I knew I would be hitting traffic at that hour, but I didn't know how much!  I live approximately 10 miles away.  Waze said it would take about 40 minutes to get from my house to the parking garage by 8:30.  Usually they are pretty good about the timing.  Today, not so much as it was raining, which always slows everything down.

I left the house at around 7:35.  I pulled into the parking garage around 8:35. It was not a fun drive.

I have clearly been away from rush hour for too long.  (That's a good thing.)  While I knew there would be a lot of traffic (when isn't there traffic?), I had no idea how much, especially at the break where the three left lanes go to local streets and the 2 right continue the highway.  Merge mania!  And I, being the "decent" human being that I am, let people merge in.  The same couldn't be said for the people who wouldn't let me get into the far right lane.  It's pouring.  It's bumper to bumper.  Cars are making their own lanes.  What the heck is going on here?  Traffic, Bfth, traffic. Was it always that bad?  I can remember pre-covid having awful traffic on my way to the office that was not in Newark, but it wasn't THIS bad.  And it certainly wasn't this bad way back in the 20th century when I occasionally drove to Newark for work.  (Back when parking was reasonable and there was an express bus that picked me up only a block away from my house.)

Getting out of the parking garage was a little confusing.  I knew there was an elevator or stairs that would connect me to the main building, but I had a little difficulty finding it.  Or maybe I was just frazzled.  (When am I not frazzled?)  When I found it, I didn't know if I needed to go up or down.  I ended up going down as I realized I needed to go up.  Luckily for me someone got in and was also going up and I just followed her because the hallway that leads you out to the concourse it gray, drab and you have to wonder IF you are in the right place.  (You are.)  I made note of where the door was in the concourse because it is unobtrusive and might be easy to miss.

I stopped at Dunkin because I NEEDED a latte.  (Was caffeine a good thing?)  By the time I actually got to my desk it was nearly 9.  I felt already felt like it was time to for me to go home!

It's clear that the call of free food and drink (though I'm suspecting mostly drink), called everyone into the office.   The place was definitely packed.  But it made it easier to leave with a bunch of people, some of which were also putting the stuff in their cars, which made the parking garage easier to find.

Happily I found my car with no problem. (I cheated and took a photo when I parked.) I put my backpack in the car and found my way to the ground level and out on the street.  I had an idea of where I was going and luckily there were other people that I (sort of) knew that I could follow.  It also helped that it was now sunny outside.

I have to say it was nice to be with everyone; including someone who I hadn't seen since before the pandemic.  Our private room was rather cold so many of us gravitated out to the main bar area.  Like everyone else I hung out and talked about nothing much, but after an hour I was ready to hit the road for the trek to PA.

Getting back to the parking garage was easy.  Getting out of the garage (once I found my pass on my phone so that I could scan it) was relatively easy.  Getting back on the main road that would take me to the highway was easy.  Staying on that road...not so much.

Again, I am grateful for Waze.  I wasn't thrilled with all the turns and traffic that I encountered, but it was obviously faster than the direct route that I took in.  When I finally got on the highway, it was relatively smooth sailing.  (Save for one quick pit stop for a bathroom break and [stale] pretzel purchase from Wawa.  Unfortunately, there was an accident right by the Wawa, which backed up traffic.  However, once I got back on the highway, everything was moving.)

The sun set in the west, a reminder that the days are getting shorter and that we will be setting the clocks back right after Halloween.  I was grateful (and exhausted) to pull into our garage a little before 8.

When (if?) there is another office gathering (the holidays are on the horizon), I will definitely NOT be driving in again.  It's stressful, it's costly and it's not great for the environment either.  I surely will be complaining about public transportation in the future because I know I will be frustrated by it again.  However, hopefully I will have the presence of mind to remember my driving experience and be grateful that I don't have to be the one navigating the traffic.  If I get annoyed, I can take a deep breath and open a book and read.  It's definitely a better way to go.