Thursday, June 14, 2012

Five Things I've Learned From Carpooling

When people at work found out that I live in Vancouver, multiple people told me, "Jeremy lives in Vancouver! You guys should totally carpool." Being my super friendly and social self, I was always immediately dismissive and evasive. I always said, "That would be cool!" which I thought clearly meant that's a super cool idea and sounds really responsible and great for the environment and whatever, but never in a million years would I actually commit myself to making small talk with someone for forty  minutes every day to and from work. And then one day Jeremy asked, "When are we going to start carpooling?" And I said, "Yeah, that would be fun." (See what I did there not answering the question? I'm no stranger to standoffishness.)

And then he said, "Let's start Monday. I'll be at your house at 7:15." 

Well played, Jeremy. Well played. 

We've been carpooling for two months. But honestly, aside from some initial awkwardness, it hasn't been all bad. And I'm now a fountain of adult knowledge and life experience. Here are five profound things I have learned from carpooling: 
  1. I know this math is going to be a little complex, but it turns out that when you only drive half the time, you spend half as much on gas. For reals.
  2. The carpool lane, or the "party lane" as Jeremy likes to call it, really is a party. Balloons. Confetti. It's pretty magical. 
  3. On days when it doesn't work to carpool, I sing really loudly to make up for the days when I have to silence my soul and chat instead of singing my heart out.
  4. When someone else is driving, you can take a nap. 
  5. And finally, when you chat with someone for over an hour a day, you pick up really valuable information like a detailed description of how to change your oil, and one hundred and twenty-five reasons to buy an iPad, and two hundred reasons why I should own a smart phone. 
I'm moving to Portland in July, and I'm actually sad that I won't be carpooling anymore. No more naps. No more party lane. No more defensive conversations where I once again justify not owning a smartphone. J and I have a nice routine. 

Though it will be nice to once again be able to shamelessly sing in my car on a daily basis. In fact, I think I'll create my "Songs to Sing to While Driving" playlist right now. I'm looking at you Celine. 

4 comments:

Elisa said...

That's exciting that you're moving to Portland! Are you going to live with your brother? Other roommates? On your own? I want the scoop.

Also, I want you and Jeremy to fall in the love. What is the likelihood of this happening?

Kristin Lowe said...

Sorry to crush your hopes and dreams, but on a scale of one to ten, the likelihood is negative a billion.

But I am moving to P-town! With my brother. We haven't found a place yet, but I've been looking at different options. I'll post pics!

Elisa said...

I'm excited to see pictures! And I'll try not to be too devastated about you and Jeremy not working out.

Ryan said...

Um... #3 is definitely my favorite.