Tucker,
I do sometimes commute from SBN and ORF. I did have one night where the flight from EWR to ORF diverted into RDU and then cancelled. It was past midnight and all of the rental car counters were closed. At about 4am I bribed my way onto a bus that US Air had chartered for their passengers that had also been cancelled in RDU. I left EWR at 8pm and finally rolled into ORF on a bus at 8am.
That being said, I have commuted for twelve years and most times it goes pretty well. There might be delays and sometimes cancellations, but if you are flexible and plan to get to work early it is pretty manageable.
Chris