Early Session Commute
I like to stay up late at night and sleep late in the morning. (See Night Owl)
But of course I couldn’t indulge those preferences during all my years working at a school, especially the semesters I was on early session and had to punch a time clock at the ungodly hour of 7:40.
But then I had my morning routine down to a science – I’d set my alarm for 6:15 hit the snooze button until 6:30, wash and dress by 7:00, down a protein shake and get to my car by 7:20. Then with my tea in a paper cup I’d drive to work during the infamous New York morning rush hour. (See Going Back to Work)
But I live on Manhattan’s upper eastside and the school where I worked was in the Bronx, and so if you know New York geography you know I’d be driving against the traffic. I’d zip along in a northbound lane while those poor souls heading south in rush hour traffic crawled along at a snail’s pace!
Not surprisingly I much preferred the semesters I was on late session and could get a little more sleep in the mornings. But I must say on my early session commutes seeing the sun rise over the city was a rush hour treat!
– Dana Susan Lehrman
Dana Susan LehrmanThis retired librarian loves big city bustle and cozy country weekends, friends and family, good books and theatre, movies and jazz, travel, tennis, Yankee baseball, and writing about life as she sees it on her blog World Thru Brown Eyes!
www.WorldThruBrownEyes.com
Reading this made me think of all the jobs I had and the insane hours I kept. I too was a born night owl and had to wise up when the teaching agenda demanded an infallible AM start. Sad part is, I could never give up those magical hours of the night and so I managed to live on hardly any sleep, till this very day. Sunrise and sunset have become mythical creatures in my day, appearing overhead and warming my soul.
Good to meet another night owl Patty!
If there’s one thing that can get a person up early, it’s the need to make a living. Long ago I worked as an environmental consultant on a bridge construction project in Salem, MA. I lived in Quincy, MA, on the other side of Boston. With no car. Construction crews start EARLY! Red line to downtown, walk, commuter train to Salem, longer walk, pick up company van with equipment and haul my exhausted butt to the site, then the reverse to get home, every damned day.
I was never so glad to get laid off!
That was really an awful commute Dave, can see why you were happy to get laid off!
Your morning routine was down to a science, Dana. Of course, you hit snooze while I jump out of bed before the alarm goes off. Different strokes. Great picture of the early morning drive into the city.
Thanx Laurie, I never minded the drive, I was reverse commuting against the rush hour traffic!
Dana,
I enjoyed your story about your early-morning preferences and adjustments. Work schedules can definitely clash with our personal preferences for rising and retiring. When I worked the 3-midnight newspaper shift and my weekends fell on Monday and Tuesday, it took me awhile to adjust. I came to enjoy starting my weekend when everyone else was facing a gloomy start to the work week, though!
We somehow all adjust!
Happy for you.
Thanx Kevin!
Your story was very evocative, with its precise details, so that it brought back very clear memories of my own, of waking up in the dark and having to get in the car and drive to work. Maybe I will decide to write about one of those experiences.
Thanx Dale, and hope you do give us a Rush Hour story!
And more prompt suggestions are welcome!
Yeah, I had an eight o’clock class to teach one dismal semester. It’s one thing to sleep through an eight o’clock class but to teach one was hell. You had to be — gasp — awake!
I get it Chas!
Dana, I was struck by the picture of you zipping uptown past the bumper-to-bumper commuters as the sun rose over the city. It sounds idyllic, even if you were groggy.
I found my daily clock changed as I aged, from being a morning lark as a child to a night owl from college through middle age. Now I’m a lark again. Go figure!
Thanx John!
There’s lots about this aging thing we can’t figure!!!