In Consideration of Convenience

I travel often for work and try to think about my choices while on the road:  I rent small economy cars for better gas mileage, less emissions. I ask questions about the food at restaurants.  I am not drinking bottled water in my hotel room (even though those inviting bottles are everywhere I go!).  If I'm staying for multiple nights, I ask housekeeping not to change my towels or sheets.  I decline the newspaper because I can read it online.

Last night, I landed at Chicago O'Hare around 7 pm.  I'm staying at a hotel near the airport, so I decided to take the free airport/hotel shuttle - it seemed rude to ask a taxi driver to take me the 2 miles to my hotel (the driver would lose his place in line to only earn a small fare).  After waiting about 20 minutes in the Chicago cold, the shuttle arrived, and 15 happy (very cold) people piled in.  We tipped the driver a few dollars for the courtesy and checked in.  By taking the shuttle, we saved 15 individual cars trips to the exact same place. 

I know my friends in the northeast and northwest (where communal transportation is typical) will condemn me for this -  when traveling for business, I never take the shuttle.  It's just not convenient.  I could have been at the hotel 20 minutes earlier and checked in without a wait.  The ride caused me to think about how convenience influences the decisions we make.  David would say it's really laziness; he's probably right.

The objective behind my New Year's resolutions was to improve myself, my family, and my world.  Convenience is often an enemy to those goals - the easy, simple solution/answer/action is not often the one that comports to our values. 

The Shelton Group conducted a survey in 2009, where they polled polled 1,006 consumers across the country.  The results weren't really surprising. Although 60 percent of Americans reported that they were looking for greener products, those same folks said that given a choice between their comfort, convenience or the environment, 38 percent of respondents said they’d choose their convenience, 35 percent said they’d choose comfort and 26 percent said they’d choose the environment.

I don't want to be a person who is motivated by laziness or convenience, so I will continue to think about my choices - and focus on whether selfish convenience is influencing those decisions.  I would encourage each of you to do the same!