commuting from commune 2.0

I had once complained about commuting by train into Penn station.  Boy, was I ever mistaken.  If you want to be really miserable just commute by bus!

Over half a million people ride the bus into Manhattan.  Every.  Single.  Day.  No, seriously, I looked it up.

In commune 2.0 I really had the best possible bus scenario.  There was an Express bus stop across the street from the apartment that made 5 or so stops before bee-lining it into Manhattan.  This bus ran every 10 minutes so it was pretty fool-proof.

My mornings looked like this:

1. Walk across the street.
2. Wait for bus.
3. Get on bus and give ticket to driver.
4. Find seat.
5. Sit.
6. Loathe life while trying not to be motion-sick.
7. Get off bus at Port Authority bus terminal.
8. Walk 11 blocks to work.

That is, really, the best possible bus scenario.  It’s not like I had to take a local bus or transfer bus lines or any of the other unfortunate things that other people have to deal with.  It’s just…  Well…  It was horrible.  I don’t know how people do it for months and years and decades on end.

Maybe that’s why there are so many angry people in New York City; they don’t live there, they commute in by bus.

The problem, for my bus ride, wasn’t until we reached a major bus interchange.  Then, it looked like this:

The bus wasn’t moving when I took those pictures.  It would crawl forward by inches and then stop.

Well, that was fun.

Now, at the end of a long day, let’s go home!  Here is the rough sequence.

1. Walk 11 blocks to the Port Authority.
2. Stand in line.
3. Shuffle forward.
4. Avoid the angry passengers who are concerned that someone will cut in front of them.  
5. Wait some more and hope you are in the correct line.
6. Figure out you are not in the correct line and realize it doesn’t really matter because an hour walk would be better than going back to the end of the correct line, if you could even find it.
7. Bus finally pulls up.  Is there enough room?  No.  Wait for next bus (which is the incorrect bus)
8. Get on bus and give ticket to driver.
9. Find seat.
10. Sit.
11. Loathe life while trying not to be motion-sick.
12. Get off bus at a stop that is within walking distance to commune 2.0
13. Walk however long it takes to get there.
14. Have drink.

And there you have commuting by bus.

The marvelous thing was that Commune 2.0 was like coming home to a lovely country Bed and Breakfast.  It was comfortable and quiet and beautifully decorated.  Also, it was a place to live so we didn’t have to resort to a cardboard box on the street so I really can’t complain.  Much.