Thursday, February 21, 2013
Commuter Essays: Jenny Bauer
Posted by NUVO Editors on Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 1:21 PM
This is part of a series of commuter essays written by transit participants. For more click here.
I've been carpooling from Bloomington to my job in downtown Indianapolis consistently for about nine years. Most people are intrigued when they find out that I carpool to work and then say they could never do it because they don't like strangers. While I'm no fan of strangers, riding in close quarters with people you don't know for 10 hours a week means that they are not strangers for long. I have been fortunate to find good people for carpooling through Commuter Connect, and several of these people have even become good friends.
My reasons for carpooling are simple: I'm cheap, I'm social, and I got tired of being tired all the time when I drove alone. The benefits from carpooling are also simple: I save money on gas and wear/tear on my car, I meet interesting people that I would not otherwise meet, and I'm well-rested from being "chauffeured" to and from work 4 days a week. Being in a carpool has allowed me to stay in a job that I love and live in a town that I love.
In my years of carpooling, I have had a few interesting experiences. Thanks to carpooling, I have been introduced to ambient space music (very relaxing and sleep-inducing until I noticed that the driver was also relaxed and sleepy); Cambodian rock (an acquired taste in my book, which I never acquired); and French-language news stations (a type of mental torture since I don't speak French). I have also been introduced to left-foot braking and turbo boost, driving 50 mph in the fast lane and always being on the look-out for cheap gas. I'm sure that I have supplied my share of interesting experiences for my carpool mates, most of which involve my weakness for '80s music and my car's Bluetooth system.
As in any other relationship, carpooling requires compromise, a good sense of humor, and patience. There is the occasional bump in the road, but the benefits of the carpool far outweigh any negatives. I'm thankful for my carpool buddies and look forward to many more happy miles together.
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