It has been an exceptionally busy week, so I'm going to combine 3 posts into one; humor me, it's a long one. First of all, we did it! My son and I rode our bikes to school and work during the week. It worked out great! The ride only took about 10 minutes more than our bus commute would have. And we found a route that is less hilly and safer than the one we took on our trial run a couple of weeks ago. Since we started out early, we didn't encounter a lot of traffic. And by the time we arrived at our destination, we were energized by our accomplishment. The ride home was a little more of a challenge because of the heat of the day, but we made it in good time. Needless to say, we slept well that night.
Actually that evening, we left Bible Study and were heading home on the bus when I had another 'mid-life moment' (not ready for senior moments just yet). We had arrived at the depot in plenty of time to make our connection, and my son started heading downstairs to catch the bus home. I was thinking the time was later when our bus home leaves from upstairs instead of downstairs, so we went to the upstairs location. Well, I was tired from our bike adventure, and started reading to pass the time. Ten minutes later (after all the buses had left the depot) I realized that we were in the wrong spot to catch our bus and that we had missed it! The next bus wouldn't come for another hour and it was already after 9:00 p.m. I was exhausted and devastated that I had made such a silly mistake. I told a supervisor about our problem and he confirmed that our bus had indeed left. So we boarded a bus that would take us close to home, but we would have to walk about 5 blocks to get there. Even though it was late and I wasn't comfortable walking that far in the dark, we both agreed we didn't want to wait for the next bus. As we sat on the bus waiting for it to depart, the supervisor who had listened to our dilemma motioned for us to get off the bus. He had a MTA vehicle that he could use to transport passengers in need (like us) and he was willing to take us home. We both were so grateful and relieved to not have to walk home in the dark! His name is GaMarr Gordon, Supervisor 57, and he was our angel that night. We couldn't thank him enough, and when I asked what we could do to repay his kindness, he just turned to my son and I and replied, 'Take good care of each other.' What a beautiful experience.
And last, but not least this week, I ran into a foreign student who is studying at Vanderbilt University this summer. He was sitting on the bench at the bus stop near Vanderbilt looking at the MTA bus system map; he looked rather perplexed, so I couldn't help but ask if he needed assistance. He was trying to get to the depot to connect to another bus to reach his destination, and wanted to make sure the bus coming our way would take him there. I assured him that all (or at least most) buses head to or from the depot; he was on the right track. But, I also noticed that he had money in his hand to pay for bus fare, but he had mentioned that he was a student at Vanderbilt. So I asked him if he had a student ID badge, to which he replied he did. Then, I told him that very ID badge was also his bus pass. He was skeptical at first, but when the bus arrived moments later, we confirmed with the driver, and he swiped his badge and put his money away. I told him that he could give me the money he was going to use for bus fare (kidding!) but he was very grateful for this information. Later in the evening, I saw this same passenger riding a different bus and he was still excited that he could ride wherever he needed to on the bus at no cost. Thank you to all of the institutions and universities that make it possible for their employees and students to take advantage of public transportation at little or no cost. It really makes a difference for many of us.
So, that's my week in a nutshell when it comes to being Car-less and Carefree. Thanks for reading and sharing. Let me know some of your experiences, too.
