not sure why this is so downvoted

Commuting (if done by public transport anyway) can be productive time, personal development time, gaming time, reading time etc. It's often the only time people get to themselves all day.

Even if you drive, there are podcasts and audiobooks.

You have got to be kidding me. Melting precious, finite fossil fuels to spend time going to your job because you need time away from your family? How can you sincerely sit here and type this?

I’ll take the downvotes- this is absurdity.

Agreed. It's funny that they're failing to see the irony that WFH is a way for them to reclaim that time, by instead of being forced to commute, bugging off to your nearest coffee shop and getting some of that time for yourself without the hassle.

Also, some people don't get to commute on comfy trains, ubers, or cars, and instead have to take crowded subway trains where this time is for themselves and shared with the other 6 people touching their body and breathing down their neck.

Commuting by car is mostly wasted time too unless you really like audiobooks and podcasts.

I've often marveled at the absurdity of how many of my coworkers openly admit that a big appeal of the office for them is getting away from their wives and kids. Healthy and normal!

Before becoming a parent I wondered about it too. Now I understand. Little kids are a disaster to one's brainpower and sanity. WFH with an infant next door is much harder. Going to an office to work really feels like a break instead of a chore.

In my life experience, myself included, I often knew about something a lot when, in fact, I really didn't. I suspect those that are down-voting us older people haven't yet experienced what we did or are.

I believe so. Before my daughter was born, I thought I knew what to expect. I was very wrong, but not in the things I thought I might be. A lot of minutiae of parenthood caught me by surprise - and ended up explaining mysteries like suddenly starting to enjoy the office.

I've been working from home for 8 years. If you really desire the commute, just go drive around. Or, better yet, take a walk or bike. I do this every day in the summer. It's much more enjoyable than being packed in traffic.

It’s sad that you have so little control over your time. This is an extreme rationalization if I’ve ever heard it. Wouldn’t you rather have alone time anywhere else but crammed in a train? Perhaps, a park?

A train, not too crammed and with a table, is actually a nice place to be alone for an hour with one's laptop, working on one's favourite open source project, studying something of interest, or reading Hacker News.

A park is fine for a stroll, a stretch, a bit of fresh air.

But people need quiet, unpressured, indoors time to themselves as well.

Coffee shop outside work time works too, in theory. (Although those can be more packed than a train.)

But you may have to fight to be "allowed" alone time if it appears to be discretionary, because not everyone understands or accepts that. They think it is selfish.

People are strange, and will happily understand and let someone "go to work" with set hours and a "commute". But strangely, not if the someone wants the equivalent personal time outside work with no commute.

You are right that it's sad for someone to have that little control over their time. But it is a fact of life for many people with families. "Work" time is accepted only when the time appears imposed by a third party; self-selected alone time, not so much.

That sounds lovely but doesn't match everyone's experiences. I spent two years commuting from Park Slope to the Upper West Side in NYC for a 9-5 job (so rush hour commutes). Standing room only, two transfers, loud, smelly, and stressful. No way to read or do anything productive.

Public transit vs fighting through traffic is a vastly different experience. Maybe if it was a relaxing drive in, but if you live around a major metro, traffic is probably horrendous and it's hard to enjoy that time.

It can be; it can also be a sardine can with no room for that.