The tribulations of a commuter

I am one of the few who can call themselves a commuter here at Bradley.

A title such as this may seem very prestigious and luxurious, but it comes with many important duties that must be fulfilled by every commuter here on campus.

These duties include, but are not necessarily limited to, feeding “plastic cash” to the gas pumps, playing the daily parking lot musical chair games, mapping out alternate routes to avoid construction and occasionally playing “car mechanic.”

Whew, it’s tough being a commuter, but someone has to do it.

Reading through the above paragraph, one may think, “Wow, being a commuter sounds pretty sweet.” You, my friend, are wrong and completely oblivious to sarcasm. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul. (Sorry for the Billy Madison quote. I couldn’t resist.)

If you were a part of the majority who saw through my BS and said “Wow, being a commuter sucks,” you are about 88 percent correct. 

Being a commuter carries many hardships most Bradley students don’t need to worry about, such as being at the mercy of traffic and random road construction.

Does the city of Peoria honestly need to have constant road repairs? I have been late to my morning classes so many times due to traffic and construction, and most teachers do not take that into account when you come rushing in late, short of breath and red in the face.

Bradley parking is still horrible. Period.

Every morning is a ruthless game of musical chairs in the commuter parking lot. It is literally every student for him or herself.

I am sure most commuters reading this can relate to the daily experience of looping around the commuter parking lot, praying for the random occurrence of a car pulling out of a parking spot. Then, after driving around the lot about two or three times (based upon how late they are running) giving up and driving out to the far lot and preparing for the trek they are about to embark upon to get to their classes. Oh Bradley parking, how I hate you.

“Eff you, gas!” You fellow commuters know what I’m talking about. Gas prices are at an all-time low for now, but a couple of weeks ago, I was filling my car up with $20 worth of gas every week just to make the daily trip to Bradley. I really do not feel the need to explain this point any further.

Also, being a commuter comes with the lovely aspect of occasional car trouble.

Here is a little tale to tell. Early last week, my car, affectionately named Alfred, decided to die in a parking lot here at Bradley.

Poor Alfred was out of commission for the rest of week, and I was forced to be driven to school in the morning. Hooray for feeling like a freshman in high school again.

Despite these hardships, being a commuter does have its perks. It is always nice to go on random field trips to wherever your heart desires in between classes and if you are feeling a bit homesick, you can simply drive home, no problem. OK, these perks aren’t that great but you need to look on the bright side of things despite how bleak they may seem if you want to survive in this world, right? 

So there you have it. I hope I have opened your eyes just a little bit to the world of the commuter, but do not take pity upon us.

We are the few. We are the proud. We are the commuters.