Managing to Survive the Great Recession
Unemployment or early retirement
causes an abrupt stop to many suprisingly simple aspects of daily life.
On a very basic level there is no job
to go to. Then there is the loss of the camaraderie of coworkers. The "uniform" of work changes too.
In the Northeast USA, particularly in the New York area, a suburban train commuter spends as many as 60 hours per month commuting,
or tens of thousands of hours over 20 years.
Once the commute stops, that time is regained.
Saving time is a plus, yet a location and dynamic which was once so much
part of the day is no longer. For many there is a significant adjustment to this change.
The interview subject talks about this
adjustment and how he came to realize how much the commute was in many ways "an anchor" to the day.