As gas prices have crept up these past few years, my lifestyle has gone largely un-impacted. I gripe a bit, and feel aggravated at the pump like everyone else you know. I drive David's little Nissan Versa now, instead of my big seven-passenger mini-van. But when I need to go somewhere, I just get in the car and go--and I don't worry too much about what it's costing me. The reality is that I feel like I make enough money to absorb the extra $40 or so getting to work and back each week. I've briefly given thought to taking the bus or carpooling, but, I rationalize, "what if the kids got sick and needed me during the day?" This, in spite of the fact that I've got 3 of the most healthy kids you've ever met, is the primary excuse I've given myself for wasting so much money--"its for the children."
The truth is, I like my independence. I like knowing that if I want to go somewhere, I can--and I don't have to wait to do it. The truth is, I don't want to change.
Then 2 weeks ago, an awesome opportunity popped up to start carpooling with my sister-in-law (the one who is married to brother, Ryan) She lives about 10 blocks from where I live, works about 10 blocks from where I work, and our schedules are reasonably compatible. Cutting my gasoline spend in half feels great. The independence I've had all this time isn't as "essential" to my well-being as I previously believed. And I'm finding a few unexpected rewards in the new arrangement that extend far beyond simple economics.
First, it's instilling a bit of discipline in certain aspects of my life where I had none before. For example, when the alarm clock goes off in the morning, I know I'd better get up. If Kimberly gets up this early and then I'm not ready when she is, I have no doubt there'll be hell to pay. Also, at the end of the day, when I'm tempted to squeeze in just one more accomplishment before heading out the door for the day, there's Kimberly, ready to pick me up (or to be picked up by me.) I'm finding that letting some of the work wait till tomorrow morning is really working out just fine. And if it can't wait till tomorrow, heck, I'm part of the mobile workforce now... I can just take it home with me!
Second, the time in the car passes more quickly with someone to talk to. Kim is willing to listen to all my stories--about work and kids and politics and religion and whatever suits me that day. And she has some pretty interesting stories of her own to tell as well. It's fun to get into the car in the afternoon with a close friend--a sister--who is keeping up with my daily trials of change management at Sprint. She even responds appropriately if I text a mid-day message about some particularly interesting plot-twist in the daily saga.
Finally, I thought that the whole "being green" thing didn't matter to me. I'm that person in the office who gets agitated about the corporate decisions to discontinue providing disposable drinking cups or paper benefits summaries. I feel skeptical about the motives to provide one product (out of hundreds of products) in recycled packaging. But I feel good about this carpooling arrangement. Maybe I'll take another look at ways to add more "green" to my life.
1 comment:
Things have changed since Karen left this post. Since then, her friend (sister in law) has asked her to get up at 5:30 in the morning, forgotten to message her when meetings go well beyond 5:00 PM and has become such a work-a-holic that Friday afternoons before a 3-day holiday weekend mean nothing when it comes to leaving early (especially when Hurricane Gustav is flipping us off in the coast). So far, I've promised her breakfast or some other meal in exchange for the past 5:00 PM meeting, but have not figured out what to offer for the 5:30 AM wake up call. Any ideas?
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