No one wins rat race

I did something most unpleasant today, and all in the name of my job.

And no, it wasn't the day-long editor's meeting in Markham that was the problem. In fact, I enjoyed our annual training day and the information provided.

It's the rush hour traffic to and from Markham that I could do without. And I was only a passenger in a vehicle of environmentally-conscious managing editors from the Durham division.

We left our Oshawa office at 8 a.m. for what should have been a half-hour trip - tops - had it been at a different time of day. Instead, it was an hour-and-a-half of bumper-to-bumper traffic on Hwy. 401 from Whitby to Hwy. 404, and then stop and go for about 10 km to Hwy. 7, where luckily, we kissed rush hour goodbye.

Until 4:45 p.m., when we got out of the conference and did it all over again.

The thing that amazes me is that some people do this five days a week, 300 days a year, for 30 or 35 years until their company puts them out to pasture. I, for one, could not do it. No way, no how.

I'm from a town of 600 that features a four-way stop that is optional at the best of times. Our traffic back-ups are caused by combines making their way through town, or Mennonites coming into town with their horse and buggy. But even then, we're talking bumper-to-bumper literally, because there's only two cars on the road.

Nope, you won't see me becoming part of the rat race anytime soon (or hopefully ever). I don't know of a piece of cheese tempting enough to be a part of rush hour traffic every day.