Tyler and I met at work. He had an upper level position which forbade him from dating an employee above or below him on the totem pole. The only option for one who wants to date someone below them and still remain employed by this company is to immediately request a transfer. Tyler did this, but it means he has a bitch of a commute.
Tyler commutes 70 miles to work so we can be together.
Sure, lots of people commute (the majority, maybe?) and Tyler used to have much longer commutes when he lived in L.A. The difference here is that I'm a factor. If I never came along, he would only have a five minute drive to work. He could sleep in an extra 40 minutes. He could be home 40 minutes faster. He would have an extra hour and twenty minutes of his day to do whatever he wanted. Cook a meal! Mash face on LOL! And think of what he would save on gas and the general wear and tear on his car!
I am humbled by this fact. Utterly humbled. As a human being, I am all too aware that we only get 24 hours in a day and a fat chunk of that goes to sleep. As an only child, I am all too aware of the importance of personal time. Tyler gives it up because of me, because he wants to be able to publically exclaim that I am his girlfriend. Purely out of necessity, Tyler and I kept our relationship secret in the beginning. It was not fun and not sustainable. (In fact we were sort of reckless in our trips to the grocery store. We just love each other too much to let the other run an errand alone.)
This all makes me feel very special. And somewhat guilty. Sometimes I feel like I should have left our work. I mean, he was there first. Why didn't I transfer to that other store? Why don't I drive 70 miles a day? Those are good and fair questions and I'm afraid I don't have good or fair answers. I just started working at [name redacted] and it was (and still is) one of the better jobs I've had. Tyler was unhappy with his work situation so transferring was on his radar anyway. At least he didn't love it there. Then I would really feel guilty. This is a selfish notion, but it feels very nice to be "worth the hassle" to someone.
Tyler and I would both be much happier if we could both work in the same town we live in. That is the dream and the plan. After all, I want to be around for that extra hour and twenty minutes, if I can! Until then, I try to make Tyler's mornings and evenings as comfortable as possible. I like to make the drive and visit Tyler at work every so often so I am reminded that he has to do it five days a week so he can be with me. I don't think it's enough. I hope one day I can do something for him that is equally meaningful.
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