The other day I was reading an article by 
I remember talking with a few clients back when I was a business English trainer when they said that small improvements from a basic won't make much difference to their outcomes. But, from my perspective it can make a huge difference when they are travelling for work, because it can reduce a lot of the stress in getting too and from locations, booking taxis at reception, discussing a redirected flight. I didn't use the term "reducing friction" but essentially, that is what it was. If they had a lot of money, they could of course paid someone to do all the talking for them, but that wasn't on the cards for most of them.
I was on the tram today into the city and was observing people from the perspective of the friction they encountered. While there is no choice for a luxury ticket, the luxury might be considered driving a personal car instead. And sometimes, people create their own frictions. For instance, when it was relatively full, an older woman got on looked at the seat beside me, and then looked for another seat. There was one opposite next to a twenty-something woman, and she chose that. As soon as she sat down, the woman who was obviously mentally challenged once she started talking, talked to her the entire trip in a loud voice, and the older woman was obviously very uncomfortable.
Friction.
But there were lots of little things that stood out, like the person struggling to untangle her earbuds, a problem solved with some bluetooth version. Or the guy with holes in his shoes, with rain on the way. The mother who had a pram and far too much shopping to carry. And the old man who was unable to get his travel card to beep.
Alone, these are tiny, individual events. Yet, most of us are going to experience many of them and unless we can afford to remove some, they will keep piling up. Small annoyances, on top of all of the major struggles in life we might be facing, with financial uncertainty, global turmoil, environmental change, loneliness, lack of purpose - and the list goes on. It is not that everyone will have the same set of challenges, but as I said to Mac;
Luxury is being able to pick and choose which stresses are worth it.
And it is something that I have noticed a lot since being out of full-time work for a year and a half now. I don't have the luxury to avoid some of the stresses. It is like life got a lot more "manual" in the sense that I have to do things where previously I might have paid for, or replaced, or done something to reduce the inconvenience. It isn't all bad, but the annoyances do add up, and they are sitting on a base that is worried about getting employment, paying bills, buying the things the family needs.
A lot of friction.
And these daily personal frictions of course create frictions in relationships also, which means there are additional stresses that affect my family, on top of for instance, my wife worrying about me getting a job, and the discomfort in her new experience as being the major bread winner. She hasn't had that responsibility before, and is now starting to realise that earning more than a partner isn't always fun and games.
As I have often said earlier, I don't need a lot in life, but the framing of it from the perspective of the luxury to remove daily friction, is a nice way to put it. It doesn't require millions, it just requires enough so that at least a good portion of the daily frictions can be removed, or at least, there is the option to remove them if wanted. Just having the possibility is relieving, and having no opportunity is suffocating.
Thanks
I actually like taking public transport much of the time though, because it gives me a lot to observe, and there are so many interesting people to discover. Even if from a distance.
Taraz
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