More time to notice... stuff
Public transportation observations:
I walk more.
Sometimes you cannot get directly from point A to B, so a bit of walking is necessary. Or because I don't have to worry about parking meters or walking back to the car, I'm strolling even when I could hop on the bus. And I’m walking through areas that I usually would not walk through, under fragrant Euculyptus trees and over roaring freeways, past small restaurants boasting farm to table food and (quickly) past creepy massage parlors. I’m walking through parts of town that remind me of figuratively growing up in Hillcrest and Downtown even though these places are not the places they were when I was growing up and dreaming of New York. True, I have the luxury of unemployment affording me the time to wander, so walking is not inconvenient right now.
I like being around people.
Even if I don’t talk to them. Even if they are crazy and talking about hustling and drugs and giggling maniacally and getting off at McDonalds to score. OK, so maybe that would get a little old if that were the constant. But there was also a woman at the front of the bus wishing everyone who departed a good day, the woman with pink hair and bags full of groceries saying that she decided when she was 40 she couldn’t have boring hair anymore, the guy next to me who genuinely said bless you every time some sneezed (swine flu!). I love seeing the quirky side of humanity you just don’t see sitting in a car.
People are polite and friendly.
At least half the people getting off the bus called thank you to the bus driver. A beautiful woman speaking French got on the trolley and happened to sit next to two women who happened to speak French and they chatted away until a few stops later. An older man with tired kind eyes asked me if I was OK- I looked sad. I was hungry I answered, my stomach growling at the thought of Pokez mexi-veggie food served by skinny, heavily tattooed vegan punks. (I had tofu mushroom enchiladas with cabbage salad. Awe-some) He told me to ‘take it easy’ with a sweet if slightly skeevy smile when I got off the trolley.
I get to read.
I don’t have to pay attention to the other cars or stoplights or bikers or where I’m going. I just have to look up every once in a while and try not to miss my stop. I’m reading two books right now. Run by Anne Patchett (beautiful fiction) and Fight Global Warming Now by Bill McKibben (how to organize community to action).
Non-crazy people ride the bus too.
And no, they are not all European tourists.
I walk more.
Sometimes you cannot get directly from point A to B, so a bit of walking is necessary. Or because I don't have to worry about parking meters or walking back to the car, I'm strolling even when I could hop on the bus. And I’m walking through areas that I usually would not walk through, under fragrant Euculyptus trees and over roaring freeways, past small restaurants boasting farm to table food and (quickly) past creepy massage parlors. I’m walking through parts of town that remind me of figuratively growing up in Hillcrest and Downtown even though these places are not the places they were when I was growing up and dreaming of New York. True, I have the luxury of unemployment affording me the time to wander, so walking is not inconvenient right now.
I like being around people.
Even if I don’t talk to them. Even if they are crazy and talking about hustling and drugs and giggling maniacally and getting off at McDonalds to score. OK, so maybe that would get a little old if that were the constant. But there was also a woman at the front of the bus wishing everyone who departed a good day, the woman with pink hair and bags full of groceries saying that she decided when she was 40 she couldn’t have boring hair anymore, the guy next to me who genuinely said bless you every time some sneezed (swine flu!). I love seeing the quirky side of humanity you just don’t see sitting in a car.
People are polite and friendly.
At least half the people getting off the bus called thank you to the bus driver. A beautiful woman speaking French got on the trolley and happened to sit next to two women who happened to speak French and they chatted away until a few stops later. An older man with tired kind eyes asked me if I was OK- I looked sad. I was hungry I answered, my stomach growling at the thought of Pokez mexi-veggie food served by skinny, heavily tattooed vegan punks. (I had tofu mushroom enchiladas with cabbage salad. Awe-some) He told me to ‘take it easy’ with a sweet if slightly skeevy smile when I got off the trolley.
I get to read.
I don’t have to pay attention to the other cars or stoplights or bikers or where I’m going. I just have to look up every once in a while and try not to miss my stop. I’m reading two books right now. Run by Anne Patchett (beautiful fiction) and Fight Global Warming Now by Bill McKibben (how to organize community to action).
Non-crazy people ride the bus too.
And no, they are not all European tourists.
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