I walk home from work every day.
The walk takes about twenty five minutes along the road next to a high traffic street. It gives me a lot of time to think without many distractions. This is where a lot of my quickly forgotten ideas come from. Things like comic books, video games, movie plots, strange quests where I am the hero, and sticking my leg into traffic and allowing it to be hit by a truck so that I spin comically like a cartoon character, or Ryu doing a spin kick. In my mind it causes me to lift off the ground like a helicopter.
It’s also good exercise, I tell myself. Most likely it’s true. It’s about two kilometres, and I don’t know how many calories that kind of walk would burn, but it’s more than sitting in my desk at work. I listen to my iPod as well, which can provide entertainment, or fuel for creativity. A lot of the time I find myself so deep in thought that I don’t notice music is playing any more.
It’s mostly down hill, but by the time I get home I’m a bit warm. My legs are loosened up, and not tired. If I’ve been jogging the previous day, I often start out the walk with a shin splint or sore calves. By the time I get home that’s often worked out, and I feel more limber.
Sometimes there are interesting smells, like gasoline, or cooking. On rainy days I get wet, and it smells like a wet city. Large trucks that hurtle past whip up huge gusts of wind that are capable of flinging water and messing up umbrellas. It can be dangerous at the intersection of Canada Way and Willingdon where motorists are anxious and in a hurry.
I enjoy the time alone with my thoughts, although that’s also how I spend a lot of my time at home and work. It’s different though. Also, I save about $4.50 on the bus every day, or over $60 for a month pass. Saving money and good exercise!
CONCEPT: 3/5 – Not a bad idea! Exercise and save money.
INNOVATION: 2/5 – Most people take the bus or drive, but everyone knows how to walk. It’s like the first thing you learn right after burping and crying.
SATISFACTION: 4/5 – I feel good that I do this.
EXECUTION: 2.5/5 – I’m pretty good at walking, but it’s not hard. The fact that I forget most of my ideas brings down this category
FUN FACTOR: 1/5 – Walking the same path every day isn’t very fun, and despite how self satisfied I feel, the truth is that it’s just not that fun.
OVERALL: 5/10 – If I had a free bus pass, I’m not sure that I would walk to work. Also, if I knew I would have to be doing it for the next year I’d probably buy a car. Winter isn’t going to be as awesome as walking to work in the summer.
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