ride the bus more

Everything went just fine this morning. The bus came a little later than it was supposed to, but I got to the stop early. When I put my money in, a transfer ticket popped out of the machine.

When I got downtown all the buses were there. I think they line up in number order. I got on the right one (!) and put my transfer ticket in and took a seat. Then I noticed other people putting their transfers in and then waiting for them to pop back out, and then they put them in a little bag on the side of the machine—I guess that’s how they reuse them.

The bus from downtown to my drop-off was pretty crowded, both with kids going to school and people going to work. But I got to work 15 minutes early, and it all went real well. Nobody was rude or weird, but I kept my earphones in the whole time!

Being around a bunch of people that early in the morning, with everyone talking, and then walking the rest of the way, really woke me up!

There was an adorable little girl that got on with her mom. She smiled at this man that she sat next to. It was really cute!!!

The price of gas, and the presidential primary, threw me over the edge this week. The night before the primary in our state, I kept seeing candidate’s ads about how they were going to fix the gas price situation. I got sick of it and gave up on them. I really feel like we are totally screwed and it’s not going to get any better.

That night, I downloaded bus maps and schedules for the city bus in my city. I was surprised to learn that I can pick up a bus just a few blocks from my house, and it will drop me off less than a quarter mile from my workplace. And price of a bus ride, including a free transfer, is A DOLLAR. If I did this every workday, it would cost me $40 a month. That is the price of a tank of gas for my little car—at this point, probably less. I will go broke if I continue to drive to work.

Nobody uses mass transit in my medium-sized city. Everybody drives cars, and nobody walks anywhere. We were recently named the fattest city in America.

I realized that I can no longer depend upon my government to help my situation. I have to do it myself. I’ve been lazy, and I need to get off my ass and make a better choice.

I’m starting this on Friday, May 9.