Road Rage Got You Down? Then Take the Bus

I've discovered the cure for road rage.

Don't drive.

Yes, I know, that's easier said than done. You've got to get to work, run to the store, and don't forget that family gathering you haven't found an excuse for avoiding. Most of the time, the obscenities you're tossing at the driver in the next lane have nothing to do with her. You just don't really want to go wherever it is you're heading.

But if you're serious about relieving that overwhelming urge to invent new insults that overtakes you every time you head out on the highway, give public transportation a whirl. Going places you don't want to be anyway is even tougher when you do it without wheels. A week without your trusty steed will make the next time you slide behind the wheel of your car seem like a vacation, even if you find yourself in a ten-mile traffic jam.

The morning and evening commutes are an exercise in frustration for everyone, but a week of doing them by bus will make your usual drive seem almost pleasurable. The things that put you over the edge now won't go away, but they'll seem like a cakewalk after you experience them through the eyes of a bus rider.

The Weather Outside is Frightful

Winter is here. If you have to start one more day by setting your alarm fifteen minutes early so you can warm up your car and scrape the ice off your windshield, you're going to quit your job and move to Florida.

When the ice, snow and frigid temperatures get you down, take a look at the bus stops you cruise by on your way to work. You won't recognize anyone there, even if most of your friends are public transportation commuters. Why? Because everyone at the bus stop is wearing enough sweaters, pullovers, coats, scarves and hats to fill the sales rack in a large department store.

In the heart of winter, the daydream of every harried worker-bee at the bus stop is that someone they know will ride by, see them and give them a lift to work. But it never happens. Your own mother can't recognize you in your cold-weather bus gear. A hundred pound woman suddenly looks like a linebacker when she's bundled up for the bus.