The Rise of the Outrageously Long Commute • Hacker News Board

Re: The Rise of the Outrageously Long Commute

#41

Post by iamphilrae » Tue, Oct 06, 2015, 7:47 AM UTC

dclowd9901 wrote: post #19

timetravel3r wrote: post #6

What an odd sentence in the article: "But a more child-centered approach to parenting also seems to be a factor, as these executives make other major sacrifices in order to balance their professional and home lives." I would argue that not having a parent at home in the evening (because they are commuting) is the opposite of child-centric. Yes, they get a nice suburban home and parks, but what about parental bonding?

And they kept saying "I didn't want to uproot my family blah blah." Is there no value in exposing your children to unique and different experiences? I'll have failed if my kids grew up in the same town/city all their lives.

I grew up in the same small Scottish town my whole life, as did all my friends. I'm now 32, live in London, have travelled the world, but best of all, I still very regularly see my old school friends. Giving kids culture growing up is one thing, but giving them the gift of being friends with the same people since they were 3 is amazing. My uni friends have come and gone, I barely see them, but I see my old school mates every few weeks and every time it's full of laughter and reminiscing from a lifetime together.

My dad worked in the oil business in the 80s and 90s and spent months at a time in places like Saudi, Norway, etc. In hindsight, I would never have wanted to move around with him as a kid. Sure I would have liked him at home more, but at least we all knew where home was.

Re: The Rise of the Outrageously Long Commute

#42

Post by cmarschner » Tue, Oct 06, 2015, 7:47 AM UTC

technofiend wrote: post #3

Is this the next "I work 27 hour days and never leave the office" thing people will brag about? I understand keeping a family together is good parenting but is choosing to spend 3-4 days a week elsewhere good parenting? I would question that versus relocating them if needed.

Being at home tired Fridays to Sunday afternoons is not what I would call good parenting. It means the wife (and I guess we're mostly talking about women here) is carrying the family.

Re: The Rise of the Outrageously Long Commute

#43

Post by hobos_delight » Tue, Oct 06, 2015, 7:51 AM UTC

chubot wrote: post #21

Sorry to use this occasion to brag about my commutes for the last 10+ years: 6 miles, 4 miles, 2 miles, and 4 miles. For the last 7+ years it's been 100% by bike. A 20-25 minute bike ride is actually better than a shorter commute because you get just enough exercise every day.

Almost 1 year ago I gave up a 90-minute each way train commute in Sydney for a 20-minute cycle commute in Ireland (obviously there were other factors).

I love the freedom to come and go when I please, and not be held up by seemingly random infrastructure failures that can ruin your whole evening.

I've actually found myself extending the bike route to get a bit more exercise in (when it's not lashing that is).

Re: The Rise of the Outrageously Long Commute

#44

Post by zhte415 » Tue, Oct 06, 2015, 7:51 AM UTC

raz32dust wrote: post #16

skrause wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A four hour commute with a self-driving car will be just as painful as four hour communute with a train, except that the cost with the car will be much higher. I honestly don't see self-driving cars changing a lot here.

Picture this - you could be sleeping in the car while it drives itself. It doesn't sound so ridiculous then. Anyway, I think telecommuting is going to be the norm pretty soon. Commutes would themselves be rare. They might be a lot longer though.

> I think telecommuting is going to be the norm pretty soon.

Holograms. Imagine sitting next to a hologram, in a meeting or just in an office setting. This would be amazing, and is coming (I hope).

Re: The Rise of the Outrageously Long Commute

#45

Post by yitchelle » Tue, Oct 06, 2015, 7:51 AM UTC

Is it a coincidence that the folks mentioned in the articles are in high profile high salary jobs? These folks has these commute already factored into their salary package.

Here is a question, how many middle level managers or engineers are doing these type of crazy commutes in the US?

Re: The Rise of the Outrageously Long Commute

#46

Post by ljk » Tue, Oct 06, 2015, 7:51 AM UTC

staticelf wrote: post #33

ljk wrote: post #12

This made me feel a little better about spending ~4hours a day on the bus commuting... always envy people who leave comments like "even 20 minutes is too long for me"

You know.. IMO you shouldn't and you should consider to relocate or change your job. There are probably towns / cities that allow for a great job and a great place of living close enough that you don't have to commute for 4 hours. I have as of now, approx. 20 minutes with the subway which I think is kind of long. But in my new job (in the process of changing it) it will be less. At summer time I will be able to bike…

Maybe it's just the beauty of being entry-level haha.... the stuff i'm working on is pretty interesting so I haven't really thought about about till recently, maybe i'll have to start thinking about it, thanks

Re: The Rise of the Outrageously Long Commute

#47

Post by paulojreis » Tue, Oct 06, 2015, 8:01 AM UTC

staticelf wrote: post #28

omonra wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if someone works relatively long hours they may not see their kids much regardless. For example if someone works on Wall St - they may have to leave the house at 6am and be home at 8pm. That doesn't leave a lot of time to see young kids.

In more developed countries we have laws that protect workers for such long hours.

And those are clearly working, right?

Re: The Rise of the Outrageously Long Commute

#48

Post by brianmcc » Tue, Oct 06, 2015, 8:07 AM UTC

iamphilrae wrote: post #41

dclowd9901 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they kept saying "I didn't want to uproot my family blah blah." Is there no value in exposing your children to unique and different experiences? I'll have failed if my kids grew up in the same town/city all their lives.

I grew up in the same small Scottish town my whole life, as did all my friends. I'm now 32, live in London, have travelled the world, but best of all, I still very regularly see my old school friends. Giving kids culture growing up is one thing, but giving them the gift of being friends with the same people since they were 3 is amazing. My uni friends have come and gone, I barely see them, but I see my old school mat…

+1 for small Scottish town :-)

we want our daughters to have exactly that, it's great to see our 2-year-old make friends that she could reasonably expect to finish High School with, and that might even last a lifetime

Re: The Rise of the Outrageously Long Commute

#49

Post by skrause » Tue, Oct 06, 2015, 8:08 AM UTC

raz32dust wrote: post #16

skrause wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A four hour commute with a self-driving car will be just as painful as four hour communute with a train, except that the cost with the car will be much higher. I honestly don't see self-driving cars changing a lot here.

Picture this - you could be sleeping in the car while it drives itself. It doesn't sound so ridiculous then. Anyway, I think telecommuting is going to be the norm pretty soon. Commutes would themselves be rare. They might be a lot longer though.

Honestly, how many people can get up in the morning, get ready for work, go to a car and then just fall asleep again? I guess the percentage of people who will be able to sleep on a commute will be quite low; I know I wouldn't be able to do that.

Re: The Rise of the Outrageously Long Commute

#50

Post by paulojreis » Tue, Oct 06, 2015, 8:14 AM UTC

Tangentially to the article, this whole sacrifice of personal life is starting to make me think about other options. And I don't even work long hours.

Last week I had to travel, to work abroad for that week. To be there on Monday morning, I flew Sunday just after lunch. I missed around 25% of my weekend and all the "after-work" time and activities I usually have. I just moved (within the same city, a few days before traveling), and my girlfriend had to finish the packing, cleaning and all that fun stuff by herself.

It was not a big deal actually, as it doesn't happen frequently, but - with this post - it got me thinking. Shouldn't we make a bigger deal of it? The fact that companies expects this kind of commitment - very outside working hours - reveals so much about the inequality in the employee-employer relationship.

And I'm not even mentioning the fact that I work on a country where I'm paid x, but was traveling to work in a country where my fellow associates in similar functions are paid 4-5x. :)