Yes, Yes, Yes

While I don't flip companies, I do work an hourly rate.  And I think we SHOULD be able to counterbill for our wasted time.  We should be able to do it anyone who wastes it.  That includes companies that don't enable us to work from home or from an office near our homes.

Hell, I mean, most of us do work in an office building, and with the exception of industry secrets, why on EARTH should we be required to commute to our jobs?

This is my novel concept for dramatically reformatting the American work life:  Remove the Rat Race.

There should be local office buildings (we've all seen them- they're vacant and cheap).  People should either be allowed to work from home or from a local office.  Screw the 20+ minute commute each way.  WALK TO WORK.  Studies have shown that the exercise increases our creativity, decreases stress, and saves gas.  That is in contrast to getting to work stressed out because we're late, missing out on exercise because we had to sit in our cars eating pre-fab, high-calorie "to-go" foods and get to work in "great" condition.

This should really be an American policy.  Commuting should be made a luxury tax on companies:  they should be renting space in local work offices or letting us work from home.  The savings to everyone would be ASTRONOMICAL.  WebEx, Google Hangouts, Skype...companies don't NEED YOUR ASS IN THE SEAT IN THEIR OFFICE for you to be productive and overseen.  We've become a society of "good enough"s and this is why America is about to loose out to Communist China as the world power in 2016.  (yes, that is when the GDP of China will overtake the US...for the foreseeable future.)  They're happier, according to the new GNH (Gross National Happiness Index), and they strive.    American's are fat, lazy, and have a "good enough" attitude.  And most of it's because we're all so F@#in unhappy at our jobs that we just can't get motivated to do more than the bare minimum.  

Think about it.

How would your pain in the ass job change for you if you didn't have the commute?    If you could get your chores done while listening in to a 2 hour conference call instead of doodling on your page or sneaking chat messages on your smart phone?

Perhaps we wouldn't be in the mindset of "I need to bill the doctor for this hour because he's wasted my already overpacked work time". Perhaps we'd have more time to go to the doctor if we didn't have the daily commute.  

Then again, perhaps doctors should work nights and weekends and save us all from having to take time off from work to go see them.  I think that would add to the GNH, too.