The bus

On a morning like today I have to remind myself there are things I like about riding the bus. I barely made it to the bus in time, with razor cuts and semi-assembled clothes. And somehow – it wasn’t really that hard - I had misplaced my bus pass and forgotten my lunch.
I have been riding the bus on a more or less regular basis to The Packer offices this summer.
With about a 12 mile plus trip and gas at over $4.10 per gallon, a one way trip to my office would cost me (you do the math), not counting the ominous “wear and tear” on the car. Plus, “the Jo” (our bus system in Johnson County Kansas) eliminates the temptation of going home for lunch, which doubles the gasoline expense on days I exercise that option with my car.
On the other hand, my bus fare is just $1.50 each way. Plus, the way our summer is going at the home front, we have more drivers than cars.
One thing I don’t like about the bus is that it not a “sweet ride.” The bumps, rattles and jolts make it pretty hard to sit back and relax, much less steady a laptop on put one word after another during the 30 minute route. Another thing: no CD or radio to ease you into the morning with some Beach Boys tunes or mindless sports chatter.
A bitter and uncompromising reality is that the bus schedule is unforgiving. It doesn’t give you another 10 minutes if you hit the snooze button, or if you can’t find your bus pass, or if you haven’t eaten breakfast, packed a lunch, etc, etc.
Still, there is more to like than not.
The people on the bus are an easy going lot. Though I don’t know many of them by name, they are friendly one and all. And you get to know their story, little by little. One bus driver served as a helicopter pilot in Viet Nam and Iraq and is reading a fat book about the history of the Mormon religion. One 78 year old man is helping to paint a house to help him stay busy after the death of his wife of 52 years a couple of weeks before. Another young woman is from a small town in northwest Kansas where my son’s best friend is from. And so on.
So I will ride the bus, and even today, find reasons to like it.