“How we relate to the world and daily life is sometimes a function of our commute distance to work.” That is probably the most profound statement I have heard myself make in a while, sort of the goose bump kind as I think further about it and my personal experience.

You may have read in this blog, that I commuted for many years from Palm Springs to downtown Riverside.  Riverside was my domain as much as Palm Springs and the desert communities.  I even had an antique mall business in Riverside, unheard of for a normal Palm Springs resident to have a business 55 miles away.  My world was indeed a function of my commuting distance, even to the point that I was conflicted as to where I wanted to be at any one moment in time.

Just as an aside to the main point, one of the other the interesting things I observed about being a long distance commuter was that you had to be much more committed about going to work, because “do-overs” were not a practical option.  If you live close to your office you can trick yourself into getting up and putting your clothes on when you are feeling a little out of sorts.  Because, it is a fairly easy sell to tell yourself that after I get to the office, if I still feel bad I can just come right home.  Not so easy to do if you have a two and a half hour round trip.  Your warm little bed is only a cold faded memory by that time. 

When I was reassigned to the regional office in Indio, the commute turned into a hop, skip, and a jump from home.  Mostly interstate driving, door to door could take slightly less than a half hour to cover the little over 20 miles distance.  The only thing is that I am still considered somewhat of an anomaly based on the eccentricities in the way people habituate in the desert.  Referring, of course, to the situation where Desert residents (particularly having grown up here)  do not want to go much beyond their own perceived boundaries (usually a City) for employment. 

The little storefront Chinese restaurant in Indio where I sometimes eat lunch will probably never be visited by another Palm Springs resident… because it just isn’t in their world.  Being bi-regional as I am, occasionally still have to go into Riverside for various work related meetings and training functions.  Now with new acuity, I see that no Palm Springs resident will ever, more likely never eat at Pacific Stixs in the Main Street Mall downtown Riverside, save one, because it is still in my world.

It came to me that my world was to get much smaller in the very near future as I peaked into the front window this morning of the office building Human Resources is to lease in Palm Springs.  It is located, door to door, a little over a mile and a half from where I live, and there is a bicycle path/route all the way.

Now if you would like to make your world a little small, and don’t derive any pleasure from hours of commuting, you might think about looking into a job with Riverside County government in the Desert.  We have regional offices in many of the desert resort communities, so there is something for everyone to choose from.