The alarm is set for 07:00 but I wake up early. It is 6:30. I am excited and nervous at the same time.

It’s Monday and today is the day I start my new job.

I get up and take a shower. Then I have breakfast. I am not hungry but drink some coffee and eat a banana. I make myself a sandwich for my lunch.

I go to get dressed. I choose a smart suit and blouse. I look in the mirror. I think I look too formal and change my mind. I find a dark coloured dress and matching jacket and feel much more comfortable.

I clean my teeth and put on some make-up.

I find my car keys and then check the time, and realise that I am very early. It is 07.15 and I start work at 08.30!

I decide to leave anyway as I don’t know what the traffic is like at this time. I say goodbye to Peter and Henry.

I arrive in good time, at about 08.00, park my car in the car park, and make my way to the door of my new office. It takes me 3 minutes to walk to there.

I knock on the door. My boss, Janet, comes to the door and lets me in.

Some people are already working and she introduces me to my new colleagues. She says, “This is Sarah. She’s the new office manager”.

Everybody is very friendly and they say “Hello”, “Hi” and “Pleased to meet you,” as I am introduced to them.

Janet shows me where the toilets are, and the kitchen, then she shows me my desk. I sit down to start work.

I have a lot to learn and the morning passes very quickly.

Before long, it is lunchtime. I decide to go to the kitchen to eat my sandwich and make some coffee.

I open my bag and I look inside.

I empty out my bag. I look at everything I have taken out. Where is the sandwich?

I look again. Still there is no sandwich.

Just coffee for lunch then.

I sit with my coffee in the staff kitchen and look at my phone messages. Lots of friends are sending me “good luck” messages for my first day in my new job.

My colleagues start to come into the kitchen in ones and twos and they are all friendly and say hello. They come over to where I am sitting and join me with their lunch.

They ask me questions about myself, where I live, if I’m in a relationship, what other jobs I have done, and so on.

So, here are the answers:

My name is Sarah and I am 38 years old."

I live in Slimbridge which is a small village about 25 kms away from the office. There are about 150 houses there, a pub, a post office and newsagent, and a grocery store. The church is at the centre of the village and there is a park with football pitches and tennis courts where all the children go to play.

I have been married to Peter, a teacher, for 11 years and we have a son, Henry, who is 8 years old. Henry is full of energy and wants to be busy. We all like to do sport and Henry is in the village football team. He plays matches on a Saturday morning, and Peter and I go along to help when we can.

My husband and I play badminton in the winter months and tennis during the summer. We go swimming with Henry as often as we can.

All of my jobs have involved administration and working in an office. I am good at paperwork and am very organised. I worked for a bank for five years, managing a department, and left there when Henry was born.

So now they know me better.

The lunch break ends and we all go back to the office chatting and smiling.

The working day comes to an end and I think about my journey home. It is 17.30.

I wait for everybody to leave then pick up my bag and take out the office keys. I am responsible for locking the office, and opening it each morning, now that I am the office manager. So, I need to arrive first in the morning.

There is a security alarm to set as well as windows to check. And I must make sure the computers have been switched off. I do all of that and it takes me about 15 minutes. I’m sure I will be quicker tomorrow.

I drive away in my car and join a traffic jam. It takes me more than an hour to drive the 25 kms home. I get home at 18.45.

I spend the slow driving thinking about travelling by train or by bus instead of by car.

These are my options:

The bus stop is only 5 minutes’ walk from my house and the buses run once per hour at a quarter past. The journey takes a full hour. When I get off at the bus station, I have a 15-minute walk ahead of me. If I take the bus at 07.15, I will leave the house by 07.10, 5 minutes earlier than this morning. I think I will arrive at the office at 08.30. That’s tight as I start work at 08.30.

The train station is a 10-minute drive from home and there is little parking there. The trains run every half hour at 5 and 35 minutes past each hour. The journey takes 25 minutes. The walk from the station to my office is 10 minutes. To take the train, I need to leave home at 07.15–to be sure to be able to park, and to get to the platform–for the train at 07.35. I get off the train at 08.00 and can be at the office for 08.10.

When I get home, I check the cost of travelling by bus and travelling by train. I compare the costs with travelling by car-paying for the car park as well as the cost of the petrol.

Regardless of the cost, I decide that convenience is more important and I will continue to travel by car.