A bus ride, round one
Well, I did it. My daughter and I bought bus tickets and I got onto a city bus and tried to get to the neighboring city where her community college classes will be starting up soon.
On the good side - I rode a bus! This being an old childhood fear I am trying to bludgeon out of existence, this is a good thing.
On the mediocre side, I fail at bus riding. Even after over-researching the routes and numbers, etc. we missed the first one by five minutes. Then I half-froze up when confronted with the little ticket machine by the driver upon climbing in. What do I do with it? Where do I stick the paper ticket thing I'm clutching? What if I accidentally stick it wherever money goes and it gets lost in there and everyone on the bus gets mad at me for making them all late while the irritated driver has to deal with the stupid noob? My brain is my worst enemy of course... in actuality I hesitantly handed it to the driver, who fed it into the machine for me without comment. I found a seat and we were lurching on our way in short order.
THEN when we got to the transit center where we needed to switch to another bus, I got us on the WRONG BUS... the one parked *next to* the (empty) slot where the one we wanted was supposed to be apparently... thankfully they did have the same route for over half the way, but THEN we passed a spot where it said you were to 'transfer' to the number I thought I was already riding on. What??? I froze up in indecision and confusion and missed that stop. Two stops later, thanks to my daughter's nudging, I finally faced up to the fact the bus was, yes indeed, headed in the wrong direction and not going to stop doing so anytime soon. We got off and sat in the drizzle for about 20 minutes then, with no bus in sight, decided to hoof it back up towards the highway where that 'transfer' place had been.
Then we missed that side street. Then we walked waaay too much finding it again. Then we glimpsed it off across a large parking lot and behind some chain link fencing, on another block. Footsore, we finally staggered into that bus shelter to find a crowd of unhappy people all grumbling that the bus we hadn't transferred to hadn't come. At least we didn't miss it...
Got to the Community College destination at last. Headed back fairly well, until the transit center again - the bus we needed was broken down. Lots of unhappy people again, more sitting in the drizzle until another was sent in its place. Super-stuffed bus then featured being between Large Man with B.O. and Potty-Mouth Girl... by the time I got home I was exhausted and ready to kiss my car in gratitude that it exists. BUT... I got home! I did - I rode a bus AND found my way home again (eventually). Now I have to make myself do it again.
Feel free to reply here or at DWth - http://primsong.dreamwidth.org/136557.html .
On the good side - I rode a bus! This being an old childhood fear I am trying to bludgeon out of existence, this is a good thing.
On the mediocre side, I fail at bus riding. Even after over-researching the routes and numbers, etc. we missed the first one by five minutes. Then I half-froze up when confronted with the little ticket machine by the driver upon climbing in. What do I do with it? Where do I stick the paper ticket thing I'm clutching? What if I accidentally stick it wherever money goes and it gets lost in there and everyone on the bus gets mad at me for making them all late while the irritated driver has to deal with the stupid noob? My brain is my worst enemy of course... in actuality I hesitantly handed it to the driver, who fed it into the machine for me without comment. I found a seat and we were lurching on our way in short order.
THEN when we got to the transit center where we needed to switch to another bus, I got us on the WRONG BUS... the one parked *next to* the (empty) slot where the one we wanted was supposed to be apparently... thankfully they did have the same route for over half the way, but THEN we passed a spot where it said you were to 'transfer' to the number I thought I was already riding on. What??? I froze up in indecision and confusion and missed that stop. Two stops later, thanks to my daughter's nudging, I finally faced up to the fact the bus was, yes indeed, headed in the wrong direction and not going to stop doing so anytime soon. We got off and sat in the drizzle for about 20 minutes then, with no bus in sight, decided to hoof it back up towards the highway where that 'transfer' place had been.
Then we missed that side street. Then we walked waaay too much finding it again. Then we glimpsed it off across a large parking lot and behind some chain link fencing, on another block. Footsore, we finally staggered into that bus shelter to find a crowd of unhappy people all grumbling that the bus we hadn't transferred to hadn't come. At least we didn't miss it...
Got to the Community College destination at last. Headed back fairly well, until the transit center again - the bus we needed was broken down. Lots of unhappy people again, more sitting in the drizzle until another was sent in its place. Super-stuffed bus then featured being between Large Man with B.O. and Potty-Mouth Girl... by the time I got home I was exhausted and ready to kiss my car in gratitude that it exists. BUT... I got home! I did - I rode a bus AND found my way home again (eventually). Now I have to make myself do it again.
Feel free to reply here or at DWth - http://primsong.dreamwidth.org/136557.html .