Funny, I have the same reaction when I hear air traffic controllers whine about stress . . .
Drudge links to this Evening Standard article: Commuting ‘more stressful than flying a jet fighter’.
Lead sentence: “A major new study claims the average journey by train or bus is more stressful than being a fighter pilot in combat, or a police officer in a riot.”
Okay, I was never a policeman, but I did fly fighters, so let me ask you this: when was the last time you disembarked from a train or bus drenched in sweat, two to three pounds lighter than when you boarded?
If commuting was like flying a fighter, agoraphobia would replace the common cold. If American-style commuting – driving yourself to and from work – was like flying a fighter, only one in 10,000 adults would be qualified to drive at all. Even fewer would be qualified to drive in traffic, and fewer still to drive alone, without crew and co-driver. Annually, every driver would be required to pass a physical, a written examination on driving rules and regulations, and a rigorous check drive administered by inspector drivers from the Board of Traffic Standardization and Evaluation. Driving under the influence would result in immediate and permanent loss of license, with no possible appeal.
Actually, now that I think about it . . . what a brilliant idea! Bring it on!
Dick Herman, SunCat, CA 12/01/04 12:38 PM
Come on Paul, give me a break! We all know how stressful the morning commute is. After all, think of the multi tasking involved; applying lipstick while balancing cell phone against left ear, plus tending screaming kid in back while navigating complex lane changes. And then you have to try to understand the lyrics of the latest hiphop rant blaring from your mega watt speakers. Then comes that moment when the driver has to wave the dexterous digit at the commuter who just cut him/her off. I mean, after all, this is not for the faint of heart or unqualified. Or is it?
Paul Woodford 12/03/04 9:42 PM
Dick,
Commuting, to me, has always been a calming break from regular life. Suspended animation, more or less, unless I’m riding my motorcycle to and from work, in which case it actually is something like flying. Work itself – at least, the kind of work I do these days – is stressful as hell. More so than anything we did at Soesterberg!