THE LONG COMMUTE

I am privileged to live in a village surrounded by views towards both the North Yorkshire Moors and Dales, perhaps 10 miles from the office. Now I know that I have no right to complain, especially when , if I time my journey to work right, then from door to door it takes somewhere in the region of 15 minutes. Nevertheless this week I have, for a number of reasons been obliged to drive the route between the hours of 8.30am and 5.30pm on a number of occasions, only to find myself sitting in queues of traffic and, in so doing, adding a whole 12 minutes to the total journey time. As I have sat there waiting patiently, it has caused me to contemplate on the similarities between commuting and divorce, of which I am sure you are already aware. Undertake the journey in the early part of your life or day and it’s relatively simple; try it in the evening or the mature part of your life and again it can be straightforward. Attempt it at 8.45am and you get caught up with children and the school run; at 12 noon with shoppers and the acquisition or delivery of assets; at 5pm with workers returning from the treadmill of employment. Of course there can be road works or accidents at any time, black ice and snow in the winter, or heavily laden tractors at harvest time, and whilst it’s not the best analogy in the world I think you get my drift, even if you can’t sympathise with my frustration.