First in a Series: To Commute or Not to Commute? That is the Question! First in a Series: To Commute or Not to Commute? That is the Question! Written by David Peter Alan, Contributing Editor With all due respect to Shakespeare’s characterization of Hamlet and his potential life-terminating decision, today’s rail commuters are facing a less-final but still life-altering question. Will they resume their old commuting habits once the emergency stemming from the COVID-19 virus is over, or will their work lives continue to incorporate the drastic changes that have occurred during the past year? For more than 150 years, employees have headed toward their offices or other workplaces in the cores of the cities on the train, often at the same time on every workday; once six days a week and now five. Many probably suffered the “slings and arrows” of an “outrageous” experience, especially when their train was late. Maybe they thought it was “nobler in the mind” to find another way to get to work, but they were not in a position to do so until the virus hit the nation last year. Today, some of them don’t worry about going to the office anymore. They are working “remotely” at home and have no commute at all.