Convince your boss about telecommuting

When I was a kid, I remember driving with my father during the gas crisis of the early 1970s. We drove past lines of cars that went on for about half a mile or more.

We would stop at a local gas station where he knew the owner. The owner of the station closed his business and sold gas by the tank full only to good customers, by appointment only. God forbid you drove far away from home and needed gas elsewhere and had to wait on line for a couple of hours for the maximum half tank stations would sell while customers shot each other over the precious juice. It was just like The Road Warrior only people were more civil in that movie and the gas they killed each other for cost nothing.

It was a bad time but it forced people and society to change. When gas was outrageously priced at a dollar a gallon, consumers opted to buy smaller cars and dump their gas-guzzlers that were the size of Rhode Island.

There were articles and news stories spotlighting the practice of mixing errands so one could save gas and the government preached trying the four-day work-week.

The proposal was simple and brilliant. Businesses would extend the 9-5 workday by two hours, four days a week and be closed on Fridays. The 40-hour week would still remain but by cutting the need for commuting and the energy used by an office full of people, there would be substantial savings and lessen the dependence on foreign oil. With every office closed on the same day, there would be no loss of business inertia.