Posted on 04/28/2008 12:56:23 PM PDT by llevrok
We could almost cut in half our consumption of fuel, saving Americans billions in fuel costs, saving millions of work hours wasted every year, and free up traffic in all of our cities, and this could be done within a period of months.
I just drove 50 miles to and from work today in my personal vehicle then proceeded to go on the road for 11 hrs, driving 320 miles and burning over 30 gals. of diesel fuel.
While working 4/10s would be nice, changing the work week isn’t the solution. Aggressive drilling for oil and building refineries is. We have a supply and demand problem. Increase the supply, problem solved.
That sounds about right to me.
Honestly, the extra two hours would not be big deal.....they would go by quickly. I have found that to happen when I have to stay late at work (always per my choice based on what I do...teaching).
Having Fridays off as well would be awesome.
I bet that would occur initially, but after awhile, that would settle down and probably a reduction would be likely.
Thinking about myself, I would not drive a long way just because I have 3 days off instead of two. So?
4...sure. That would be worth it. But, not 3.
I do think I would drive less on Friday no doubt....likely sit around the house and not leave period. But, I would go places on Saturday and Sunday whereas now I do my best not to do anything but be lazy on Saturday and then go places and do housework etc. on Sunday.
So, it is possible I may actually drive only slightly less than I would normally. Maybe even equal or more depending on how far I go on Saturday and Sunday with Fridays off.
The boss is afraid we won’t work if given the option to do it at home though......
They would not go for telecommuting.
I did say that the bosses would not like it since they could not watch you, but actually, the technology is there that they could. Just log into the company intranet or something and work from home, and they could monitor everything you are doing, the productivity etc.
With that setup, people would not be tempted to slack off as much as they would with no checks and balances.
Damn good idea. Hopefully you know somebody connected to Washington so it can get passed on. The GOP would get a big boost from this idea as well....cubicle folks would love it.
As a teacher, I feel a calling to do what I do...I am willing to take the low pay and long hours (regardless of what people think about us, those who do the job well work long, long hours outside of school, even during summer break....it is a working vacation).
But, my poor wife works 60-70 hours a week often working as a volunteer and event coordinator for Habitat for Humanity, a position that has turned into recruitment manager more than coordinator, unlike what they told her. She has a passion for Habitat, but I see how drained she is. She only gets 2 weeks vacation a year (definitely a teaching perk despite having long hours). Much of her work could be done at home, and she would enjoy it more being with our “babies,” our dogs. She would save a ton on gas.
I think you are on to something.
I like to stay home completely for one day a week (normally Saturday......or in a 3-day weekend, I guess that would end up being Friday).
If a really long week.......sometimes 2 days.
But, not 3. I would be stir crazy at that point. Thus, the only way I see it reducing gas use is there are enough people with massive commutes that will end up not driving quite as far on their longer weekend. But, I just don’t know if there are enough people like that.
If we had just one ounce of leadership, this would be done.
he loves it.
It's gone beyond these companies and their little policies, and whims about being afraid someone might slack off.
Send the millions home that sit in cubicles all day long, using a computer and key board, let them do it at home.
Free up/save billions of gallons of gas, and end the traffic nightmare in all of our cities.
Not to mention the millions of hours wasted on these employees sitting in traffic all year long.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.