One morning a few weeks ago, I was walking up Broadway when I ran into an old friend of my brother. He asked me what I was doing and where I was heading. I said, "I'm just walking to work... it's such a beautiful day. My office is up on 40th." I'd had my headphones on and there'd been some really awkward, "do we hug/shake hands/waive?" confusion, so I felt a little flustered.

He said, "Where do you live?"

I told him I live in Brooklyn and gestured back, to the south and east.

"Oh," he chuckled, "well, you didn't walk from there."

I wasn't sure what he meant, or how he meant it. Was it a question? It didn't sound like one. A correction? Maybe.

I had, in fact, walked from Brooklyn, from my neighborhood to the northeast of the Botanical Gardens (frequently mentioned elsewhere [0]) and museum, up Flatbush Avenue, past the best cheesecake on the planet [1], and over the Brooklyn Bridge.

John isn't the only person who finds it an unlikely trek to make just to get to work in the morning, especially in the city with the best mass transit system in America, and it's made me think about why, on some mornings, I get up an hour early and bring a pair of sneakers to change into, why I put up with the cold gusts of wind over the water on the bridge, why I make my feet sore before I even start my day.

There aren't a lot of practical reasons, I guess. Fitness? I could just as easily go to the gym and make use of my gazillion-dollars-a-month-membership. Environment? Taking the subway is supporting an incredibly eco-friendly piece of infrastructure.

What it comes down to is this: a sense of accomplishment, early in the morning. Let's say my slave-driving, whip-snapping boss [1] is copping a ‘tude. In my head I say, "Yeah, I just walked from deep in the belly of Brooklyn. What the heck have you done with your day that's so great?" And suddenly I'm above it—I can just nod and do what she wants me to do. I forgot my lunch at home? Well, no wonder! I just went on a monstrous journey. Poor thing. Better put something expensive, delicious, and unhealthy on the ole credit card. Feel like skipping a workout tonight? Of course you do! You walked miles and miles this morning!

Next time you're about to jump in the car or take a ride on a bus or train, ask yourself: do I want to get where I'm going quickly and easily? Or would I rather have a big fat ego stroke and an excuse for anything?

- Josh [1]

Brooklyn, NY