Adam is Idle

They say that a good way to find out what you really want to be is to first figure out the things which you definitely do not want to be. I am not willing to cross teaching off the list. I have enjoyed all of my teaching. That is fine. I am most certainly not a commuter. I do not enjoy commuting. I do not look forward to commuting. I do not commute well. I am not friendly to those commuting alongside me and I hate them for being so numerous.

The part that boggles the mind a bit is that my fellow commuters all have the same look on their respective faces that says exactly what I just wrote. This is insane to me. I spoke with some of my students about this. Why does everyone put up with this? Well, Mexico’s economy is overly centralized which means that this is where the jobs are. This is where the money is. Most of these people have a compelling reason to play the “how many people can we fit on this bus” game, be it supporting a family, a chance at promotion, or even just a chance at a better life. This is where they have that opportunity.

What I have come to realize is that I lack that compelling reason to keep me here. The only thing that makes me look at a bus which is already well over capacity and say “Yes, I need to get on this bus” is the fact that I told my employer that I would be here until at least the end of May and I am a big believer in keeping my word. So I will be here through May, even though the Metrobus makes me want to kill someone and I am pretty sure that my fellow travelers are all deciding who they would kill first as well.

It is strange how overpowering the travel is as a negative when I am pretty happy with everything else. I like where I live, have good friends, enjoy my job, and have plenty of fun on the weekends. I have simply come to realize that if I did this job in most any other city in the world (and I do have that opportunity), I would have a lot more free time to enjoy these things.

I turned 25 today (well, I wrote this yesterday). These are good years. Between the metro, metrobus, private buses, peseros, and dead time between classes in Santa Fe, I lose well over 24 hours, more than a day of my life, every week. Why do I need to do that? Is that crazy? I think yes.