Driving - why context is Everything

I got asked a couple of weeks ago why it is that I'm trying to get into a driving-based job, considering that I've been quite vocal in the past about how much I "hate driving" - back when I was living in a suburban sprawl-based situation and having to drive everywhere. It's a reasonable question I suppose...

The answer is: Context.

The problem with driving for me was never the driving itself. It was the overall context of the situation. I disliked the idea of being in the Middle Of Nowhere in suburban sprawl, and having to waste heaps of time each day driving to uni/work to another Middle Of Nowhere in suburban sprawl. The act of driving acted as a time waster, one that always seemed irrational and pointless. ie. Why not live more sensibly? Somewhere where my "daily life routine destinations" are more conveniently close by? "And why are Australian cities built so stupidly and suburban sprawly dammit!"

Of course, life can't always be set up so neatly, and there isn't much point getting angry at things you can't change. There are logical factors which might make long commutes necessary at some stages of life, for whatever reason. But the general point stands - it wasn't "driving" in itself that was ever the problem for me. It was the context in which I had to waste a lot of time on it. Time which was essentially my own private time, which I would rather have spent doing something else.

The truth is, I actually enjoy driving, when it's done in a recreational context - or else a professional one. And doing it as a job, where all that time is paid for by the hour, is a totally different experience that way - compared to being "forced" by circumstance to drive everywhere every day and waste a lot of my own time and money on it. I guess it could be said that commuting is part of the job - but when I was younger, I guess I was less patient, and it was harder to think of it that way, but now even that bothers me a lot less - though I would still try to avoid it if at all possible - which is a big part of why I live in the inner city.

So yes, it seems like a contradiction at face value - "hating driving but wanting a driving-based job". But it's not really. The "hate" was never for the driving. It was for the context of time wasting, and for the irrationality of low-density suburban sprawl, which is what leads to so much car-dependency (and easily being "forced" into life situations where you have to routinely drive a lot) in the first place.