Why I Love Riding the Bus

One thing I DID actually look forward to when I was getting ready to go back to school this year was my early morning bus ride. Driving to work is fun and all, but there's something very soothing about sliding into a seat near the back of the bus, warm coffee thermos in my hand and good music on my ipod, just relaxing and looking out the window and not worrying about traffic. Plus, there's a wonderful consistency to the daily bus routine. I rush out of my building (always a couple of minutes later than I actually want to), and briskly walk the 3 blocks to the bus stop. If the school bus crosses Girard before I do, I know I'm a little behind. If the three dark-haired girls with glasses are still waiting there, I know I'm good. Similarly, if that one girl with short hair who always rides my bus is still there when I arrive, I know I'm good.

At the risk of sounding creepy, I love watching people as they get on the bus. I always wonder what their story is - are they a student too, or are they going off to work? Does that guy like his job, or is he dreading walking in to work? What class is that guy with the medical textbook cramming for from that book and why didn't he study before he got on the bus?

Earlier this week, my marketing professor from last year got on my bus and sat two rows in front of me. He was actually one of my favorite professors, but in class he comes off as a total elitist and chauvanist which ticked a lot of people off to the point where they picked fights with him which was NOT a good choice. Late last year, a couple of friends and I had dinner with him and his wife Theresa. We were all pretty surprised to find out that she is pretty sassy, can obviously hold her own against anyone, and that they met when she busted him for trying to sneak into the college caf using someone else's ID because he was broke and sleeping in the hallway of his dorm.

So when I saw him getting on the 16 just ouside of campus, wearing jeans and a baseball cap over his anchorman-coiffed white head of hair I just grinned and thought, of course you ride the bus. You have a red corvette facade with a public transit soul.

The bus brings out all kinds - distinguished professors, people who are totally crazy, and everything in between such as the good looking, put together dude in hospital scrubs who didn't stop singing along to Lil' Wayne on his ipod (uncensored) the entire way down Lyndale. It's a fun mixture of comforting routine and totally unpredictable. Kind of like life.

"It's good to have an end to journey towards, but it's the journey that matters, in the end." - Ursula K. LeGuin