1. Our cars are a home away from home
Everything we could ever need is stuffed into your car. From taking midday naps with the seat pushed back or curled up trying to avoid hitting the horn on our steering wheel to having to run back to the parking garage to retrieve a textbook. Also, having a bag of travel sized shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, toothpaste, and a toothbrush in your center console is totally normal, right?
2. Work, work, work
If you aren’t doing homework or studying for a class, you are at work. Free time doesn’t seem to have a place in my calendar. Between trying to pay for gas, books, and making your loan payments, work is a necessity, an evil necessity.
3. PARKING
The daily struggle of hoping to find a spot on the first floor, then the second, maybe the third, and ultimately having to park on one of the top levels. Trying to park in a garage on the weekend and hearing the attendant say “I am sorry ma’am the garage is closed on weekends for commuter students,” WHAT THE HELL. So you’re saying I am paying $200 a semester to only park on the weekdays between a specific time frame? I am incredibly upset.
4. PARKING SIGNS
We have all found a street parking spot, squeezed our cars between two oversized SUVs just to noticed a sign posted on the pole saying “No Parking on Thursdays after 5pm without a permit.” Seriously? Oh and don’t even mention sign stacking, “2 Hour Parking Mon-Fri 8am-6pm” “No Parking on Thursday between 11am-2pm” “No Parking on Sunday,” so… Can I park all day Saturday, because out of ten signs, none of them mention Saturday?
5. PARKING TICKETS
More than once we have all come out to a pink paper clipped underneath our windshield wipers informing us that we stayed one minute over the two-hour limit and have two weeks to pay an outrageous fine, but hey, at least parking tickets don’t affect insurance rates. So now to drag yourself to the city office with the ticket and stand in a line with people who are just as annoyed as you are
6. Mom comments
“You’re never home”, “The only time you come home is to sleep” or “Where have you been all day” are heard on a daily basis. Between work, class, homework, studying, and trying to socialize, of course, we are never home.
7. Going to the gym after class= Stinky duffle shoved away in the backseat
After a long day of stressful classes who doesn’t want to go to the gym and decompress? BUT who wants to go all the way back to the parking garage to retrieve their duffle and drop off their backpack just to walk all the way across campus to the gym and back again to their car?
8. "So, can you give me a ride home?
Uh, no. I am not a taxi, uber, or a
9. The Library is your BFFL
Four hours in between class? Library. Too many distractions at home? Library. Exams? Library. The library, along with your car, is your home away from home. We have spent more time at the library than I have in class, and honestly, that’s how it should be. Also, why are we paying 8 cents to print, but that’s a different
10. "Commuting must be so nice!”
No, it isn’t. Sitting in traffic every morning and trying 25 minutes back and forth every day isn’t fun. We didn’t choose the commuter life because we wanted to, the commuter life chose us. Living in a dorm is costly, VERY costly and some people would rather not have to take out a loan for more than they already have to. Yes, gas is a pain to pay for, but then again we aren’t paying 10,000 a semester for gas.
But at the end of the day, we are able to crawl into our own beds without pants and worry of our roommates inviting people into the room when we aren’t exactly half way decent. Speaking of looking decent, commuters typically look way more put together because we don’t have to worry about waking up our roommate as we blow dry our hair. So commuters, let’s band together and show college who is boss!
