Commuting - Who ARE these people??

As a professor, I am lucky to be able to work any hours I please. So, I ride in rush hours only on occasion. However, even when I ride in off hours like, say 2:30 pm, the roads are filled with cars. Who are these people? Don't they have jobs? The cars and SUVs seem nice, so they can't all be unemployed folks just tooling around.

????

retired, kept men and women, days off, holidays, late lunch, late shift, early shift, doctor's appointment, real estate agent, salesman, business meeting or service call.

sometimes i wonder the same thing. i guess they are retired folks, late shift workers, people who called in "sick", people going to and from doctor's offices, running errands, contractors going between work sites, delievery drivers, kids ditching school, people on vacation, professors with flexable hours, etc.


edit: looks like Wulfheir beat me to it and posted first.

they're all self-employed...

they're all self-employed...

..and love to work at nothing all day! :D

Sorry, couldn't resist.

OT, I normally have Mondays and Tuesdays off, and do notice alot of traffic at times that I wouldn't expect it. After 2:30 or so I notice a big bump in cars on the road, and it keeps going up through rush hour. People get off work early, or start early in the AM, or work nights (like me). What throws me off is cars all over the place at 1:30 AM on a Tuesday.

boog

..and love to work at nothing all day! :D

They're just takin' care of business.

As a professor, I am lucky to be able to work any hours I please. So, I ride in rush hours only on occasion. However, even when I ride in off hours like, say 2:30 pm, the roads are filled with cars. Who are these people? Don't they have jobs? The cars and SUVs seem nice, so they can't all be unemployed folks just tooling around.

????
I believe they are martians just peaking around at us folks while we're not looking.:)

Seriously, they are just folks who work night shifts, or people running errands.. i mean the world soesnt stop turning cause some of you work 8 to 5, Im in the running arrands group at 2:30, Im the one you see driving by as I work nights:) so next time, wave and stop wondering what planet i feel from!

As a professor, I am lucky to be able to work any hours I please. So, I ride in rush hours only on occasion. However, even when I ride in off hours like, say 2:30 pm, the roads are filled with cars. Who are these people? Don't they have jobs? The cars and SUVs seem nice, so they can't all be unemployed folks just tooling around.

????

Isn't 2:30 about the time that schools are letting out? Plus, if you ride near hospitals, hotels, etc., a lot of shift workers are coming and going at any given time. Still, I'm always surprised by that too.

I work 6am - 2pm so often wonder that myself. However that didn't really hit me til I went to Tokyo for a vacation. The subways and buses are packed any hour of the day! Some of the more trendy places are a sea of human madness. And no one loiters around, either. They're all hustling off to go somewhere. Makes me want to shout "Where are you all going?" Seriously, there's always a huge crowd (at least by my suburbia standards) on any street corner waiting for the green light so they can cross. I don't think all the buildings in Tokyo would be able to hold all the people in the city. It's like there always has to be at least 500,000 people out and about making tourists like me wonder what all the rush is all about.

As a professor, I am lucky to be able to work any hours I please. So, I ride in rush hours only on occasion. However, even when I ride in off hours like, say 2:30 pm, the roads are filled with cars. Who are these people? Don't they have jobs? The cars and SUVs seem nice, so they can't all be unemployed folks just tooling around.

????
You're a professor and you can't figure this out? Damn.

As a professor, I am lucky to be able to work any hours I please. So, I ride in rush hours only on occasion. However, even when I ride in off hours like, say 2:30 pm, the roads are filled with cars. Who are these people? Don't they have jobs? The cars and SUVs seem nice, so they can't all be unemployed folks just tooling around.

????

They're all Aliens from Mars!!!...

You're a professor and you can't figure this out? Damn.

LOL. :)

Try riding at 2 in the morning... the traffic is much lighter. It's actually quite relaxing.

LOL. :)

Try riding at 2 in the morning... the traffic is much lighter.

ah, but that's when all the drunks are out.

ah, but that's when all the drunks are out.

Good point. In that case, try 4am, the bars will have been closed for two hours by then.

You're a professor and you can't figure this out? Damn. :lol:

They're just takin' care of business.

every day.. takin' care of business, every way......

As a professor, I am lucky to be able to work any hours I please. So, I ride in rush hours only on occasion. However, even when I ride in off hours like, say 2:30 pm, the roads are filled with cars. Who are these people? Don't they have jobs? The cars and SUVs seem nice, so they can't all be unemployed folks just tooling around.

????


they are government employees. They work from 10:00 until 2:00... taking lunch from 11:30 til 1:30.

I laughed out loud at your post, because when I was a newspaper reporter (I edit now) I'd be out and about on stories and see folks all over the place, in parks, stores, strolling along, whatever, at like 10:30 in the morning or two in the afternoon on a weekday, and I'd be thinking, who ARE these people??? I even proposed this as a story idea one time to my editor, who looked at me with pity.

not everyone works Monday thru Friday...

I work 14 hr shifts.... by choice! I get 4 day weekends :roflmao: :lol:

Took me 27 years to get to PICK my own schedule... eat your heart out youngster!

Being semi-retired and self-employed I see these people too, but I always thought they were all professors. ;)

I'm an unassigned consultant with nothing better to do than ride right now... :)

Maybe they're uber cool mountain bikers on recon for some sweet singletrack.

I'm not sure where you are located but I ask that question everyday. Oh, I'm from Los Angeles.

Good point. In that case, try 4am, the bars will have been closed for two hours by then.
Lots of bars/clubs/lounges close around 3am or later here. Then after that people eat. At 5am, that's when the drunks go home.

But I wouldn't want to be riding from 2am - 5am on a weekend. I've seen drunk people crash their cars, hitting parked cars. Then their drunk passengers would come out of the car bursting out laughing. It's really quite a sight to see.

Any of the above. In addition, I know a fair amount of people who work from home and can just go out whenever they feel like it. My wife does this. She only goes in for the occasional meeting, or of course when she has to travel. With her job she has the benefit of working in her bunny slippers and we have the ability to move anywhere we want in the world so long as it's less than an hour away from an airport.

If you get a good grad/law degree, it really isn't that difficult to get a decent job that allows you to either work at home or set your own hours.

As a professor, I am lucky to be able to work any hours I please. So, I ride in rush hours only on occasion. However, even when I ride in off hours like, say 2:30 pm, the roads are filled with cars. Who are these people? Don't they have jobs? The cars and SUVs seem nice, so they can't all be unemployed folks just tooling around.

????

I dunno, professors?:D While living in Dallas, I had the feeling that they were all shoppers, since I worked at a retail fabric warehouse outlet to pay for my Master's degree (as well as a grad. assistant) and that store was packed out all of the time--as well as all of the other stores in Dallas.

you're out there too, aren't you?

whoever those people are, you seem to be one of them.

this was the only conclusion i could reach last time i tried to figure it out.

well it can't be me. at about 200 pm i'm rubbin the LA grit from my peepers and practicing my toothbrush stroke. :p

retired, kept men and women, days off, holidays, late lunch, late shift, early shift, doctor's appointment, real estate agent, salesman, business meeting or service call.

You forgot one, .......other professors. ;)

More and more companies are letting employees flex time. In more and more (non-service) jobs, esp IS jobs, you just need to get 40+ hours a week in at some point during the week. Some companies require your body to be in a chair during "core hours" - otherwise some people probably would never see each other.

Who ARE these people??

The Beautiful People. :D

I work a rotating schedule of 12 hr shifts, so half the time it's me taking care of things. Wave at the guy on the bike, I wave back!

funny, their all probably wondering what you're doing riding a bike at 2pm....

by the way... what do you profess? math, accounting, finance, english, etc??

As a professor, I am lucky to be able to work any hours I please. So, I ride in rush hours only on occasion. However, even when I ride in off hours like, say 2:30 pm, the roads are filled with cars. Who are these people? Don't they have jobs? The cars and SUVs seem nice, so they can't all be unemployed folks just tooling around.

????
Probably they're all professors too. :)

I work 3:00 PM to 11:30 PM in a hospital. I work every second weekend, so I have weekdays off. This is the perfect setup for a cyclist! I have daylight hours for riding every day.

Who are these people?

I know who the people are. If I could just identify those voices.

Okay, here's the deal. Between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:00 pm, all the unemployed people go in to the homes of the employed people and use their stuff for a few hours. For the most part, they put everything back so there is no need to get upset about this. It's a shame that there are all these nice things and no one gets to use them because they are always at work or sleeping.

Unkchunk, I'm beginning to believe you! Here's why.......http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=173193

There are a lot of people who work it out so they can live this way. For example, I met a guy today who's a landscaper in British Columbia. He has a huge contract with a sprawling housing development. Problem is, at this time of year, it's all under snow. So he comes down here to sunny Santa Barbara to surf, bike and hike until the snow melts.

We asked him what he'll do when global warming melts the snow. He said he'll have to find another job that allows for this same lifestyle.