If high gas prices weren’t enough there’s a new stress in town – how to commute around the high gas prices and still be on time for work. While in one of the many newsrooms I work in this morning, a phone call came in:
“So, here’s the deal I didn’t hit too much traffic which means I’m going to go our of my way to hit so-and-so gas station closer to work – it’s at least a ten cent difference,” my colleague effused enthusiastically. He lives a good distance away, so this was a big deal. “I should just make it on time,” he added in a stressful but determined tone.
The guy drives an SUV. So lets deconstruct. Actually, I can’t even begin to do the numbers on his gas hog. I only know that my Corolla ate $45 bucks worth of the slick stuff this afternoon. I had driven about 2 miles out of my way to fill her up in Jersey, and I waited until the last possible moment to do the nasty deed.
The day was spent knowing that at some point, my homebound commute from the workplace would involve a gas line, and dishing out the dough. I also had to figure in my timing. If I left shortly before five, I could just make it to the gas station closest to the industrial complex where I work - before the masses. For sure, I knew I’d be getting gas in New Jersey before heading over the New York border where gas was ten to thirty cents more expensive.
Can you imagine how many people are having these same thought patterns around picking up some gas? It’s just not good for our elusive quest toward worklife balance. Thus the stress - and this blog post today.
To sidestep the aggravation of the gas prices, here are five tips to keep your mind off them while filling up.
- Think of how happy you will be when the deed is done.
- Listen to some soft music instead of the news while the gas ca-chings into your tank.
- If inside your car, call your mom.
- Be happy you had a job to come home from in the first place.
- Be grateful that you live stateside. Our friends overseas are paying Eleven bucks a gallon.
Now that I’ve vented, I feel so much better.
