First my loving wife. "Sean called and wants to know if you're riding together tomorrow." she said.
"Nope." Said I. "Starting tomorrow, I'm taking the bus."
A look of incredulity crept over her face. "What?" She quizzically asked, followed by the obligatory "Why?"
I offered a variety of reasons, from the 4000-mile trip we had just taken on my leased car to the much more meaningful environmental benefits of mass transit. But that look of perceived insanity never left her eyes. And she turned introspective.
"You're not going to do that when NJ starts school, are you?" He's almost 10 now, and completely capable of getting himself ready and off to school in the mornings. He did it all last year, unbeknownst to her because she left for work in the wee hours. The conversation remains unresolved.
Our friends across the street had another perspective. "What the hell is wrong with your car?"
"Nothing," I said... unless you count the miles I racked up last week.
"How long are you going to do this?" they asked. I didn't have an answer. I really don't know. I wasn't aware that these decisions had to have an end-date.
From the 72 year-old man who lives a few doors down, a man who can recall the impact of the great depression yet now lives in ample luxury, "Are you all right?"
Now how do answer that? I just laughed and continued walking. Somehow, I knew I wouldn't be able to explain it to him if I had wanted.
One of my employees who lives near my house came in today and offered me a place in her and her husbands car on their way to work. I politely declined, stating that I already had one abandoned carpool buddy, and that I actually enjoyed the time I had to read and think for that extra hour in the mornings.
That's the amazing thing about the bus. Here you are surrounded by people and you never, never talk to them. Oh, maybe you'll make a comment to the bus driver, or maybe someone new comes on and asks where this bus is headed or when the next one leaves, but none of the idle, worthless, crappy chit-chat that takes up your carpooling time with the people that you know. Some first-and-only-time bus riders are taken aback by the "comatose" people on the bus, but I don't see them that way at all. When I've asked a question, or made a comment to someone, they've always replied in a very civil tone, and never once looked at me like I was breaking some sacred taboo by emitting words from my mouth.
There's one guy on the bus who doesn't share in the need for quiet and solitude like the rest of us. He talks non-stop. To whoever is sitting next to him. If no one will talk back to him (which they normally stop doing after a few minutes), he talks to the bus driver, who, oddly enough, seems to enjoy the exchange as they converse for the entire route occasionally. A few days ago, it was my turn to be on the receiving end of his conversation.
"Where do you work?" he asked. I told him and politely inquired the same of him, falling right back in to the meaningless idle chatter we are all brought up to expect from others as true conversations.
He then asked "What do you do?" where I responded again.
"I'm the eBusiness Manager for the company. Basically, I'm my team is responsible for all of the company's Internet-related activities."
A few seconds ticked by while he absorbed this information. It obviously wasn't the answer he was expecting. "I'm a file clerk." He said, pausing and looking away for just a moment before his gaze swung back to me and continued with "Why are you riding the bus?"
Posted by Evo Terra at August 16, 2002 04:28 PM