The Saturday Morning Post - Vol. 6 - Ridin' the Bus

This summer, just like last year, I've been taking to bus to work on occasion. This year I've succeeded in taking it more frequently as compared to last year, where I was averaging about one trip per week. This summer, with the exception of the week where the Fourth of July fell, I've taken the bus at least twice a week. I'm likely to increase this to 4 times per week beginning next week.

Why am I doing this? Because I believe it's the right thing to do; it's good for the environment. Last summer it was more of an issue of saving money, considering the price of gasoline. This year the prices are not as high, but I can still save a little bit of money - and some ware and tear on my car. But more importantly, it's one less car on the road creating pollution. I wish more people would join in the effort - it's really not that much of a sacrifice.

I want to share an observation from my travels: last week on the way home, I saw a lady and her daughter board the bus I was on. The first thing that caught my attention was that the little girl looked to be my daughter's age (8). The part that seemed out of place was where she and her mom were getting on the bus. This was a commercial / light industrial area where there are a lot of businesses and no residences. I also noticed that the mom was carrying a suitcase. That lead me to believe that the this was not a situation of a "bring your child to work" day. I figured that these two got on the wrong bus somewhere, and ended up here.

They asked the bus driver something, so I figured they were lost and were trying to find a route that would get them to where they wanted to go. They ended up getting off the bus at the same stop I did. I crossed the street one way to catch another bus; they crossed the street the other way. While I stood at my bus stop waiting, I could still see them diagonally across the busy intersection. I figured they were going to head to the bus stop nearest them and go the opposite direction I was heading. But then they crossed the street - walking in the same direction from where the bus we were just on came from. I felt bad for them, because they were clearly lost. I thought about my daughter, and how she might deal with this situation if she were in it. This little girl seemed to be oblivious that she was lost, and just kept walking beside her mom where ever her mom walked.

So out of sight they went, and I kept waiting for my bus. Some days I'm at this stop for just a couple of minutes; some days for several minutes. This particular route is not very consistent, and on this particular day I was waiting several minutes. So as I'm still waiting - here comes the mom with her suitcase in one hand and the little girl holding her other hand. But not to my stop, back towards the stop where I thought they were headed to begin with. So they walk in that direction, and walk right by that stop and all the people who were waiting there. Up the street they walked headed for who knows where. I thought to myself: I hope they find their way.

So how did this turn out? I didn't give it much more of a thought once my bus came along, until this week. On my ride home Wednesday, there they were again - mom, suitcase, little daughter, and another girl (presumably another daughter), who was a teenager that looked to be about my son's age (15). This time they were sitting at the bus stop that I go to when I start my trip home. My place of work is in an area where commercial and light industrial businesses are adjacent to a densely populated residential neighborhood, so it's not uncommon to see people at the bus stop who do not appear to be commuting workers. We all got on the same bus and down the street we went.

They got off at the same bus stop I did, and again crossed the street in the opposite direction that I did, and the three of them walked away - suitcase in hand - right past that other bus stop. Who knows where they were going, but at least they didn't look lost; they seemed to know exactly where they were headed. I'll look for them next week. I do see the same people quite a bit, especially on the morning commute. Well that's it for this week, see you next Saturday morning.