WALK IT OUT
Sometimes I play this game. Well, I don’t know if you would call it a game per se, but I have this rule: If I get to a bus stop and the bus isn’t there, I have to keep walking to the next stop. If the bus is not in viewable distance when I reach the next stop, same thing, keep walking.
Usually the bus catches up within a few blocks or so. Other times, for instance last week, I was at my bus transfer at the bottom of the University District and in standard form I decide to start the walk to the first stop, not there, keep walking. Second stop, nothing, just keep on keepin on. Third, fourth, fifth…nothing. Thirty minutes later I had walked the entire way home. And with perfect timing, as soon as I got to my house, the bus showed up. Awesome.
Now, lets be honest, there were times on that walk that I was just so angry at the stupid bus system in general. Mad that I don’t have a car. Mad that I constantly feel the urge to sanitize my hands, face, and any other body parts that touch the bus. Mad that I’m 27 and have lost a certain amount of independence. Mad that quite literally the people I see most frequently in my life are the people who ride the 48 and 49 bus (who are not necessarily the people I would want to see most often). Just frustrated mostly.
It was late and I was tired, but you know what, I got home. I walked in my house and had to take a moment to remember that.
Yes, this blog has a tendency to side with sarcasm, but sometimes, just sometimes the metro teaches me something about life. I really did have this moment where I thought, you know what, you just walked home. Ideal? Maybe not, but I knew I’d get there eventually…by foot or by bus. And sometimes life isn’t ideal. You know where you want to be and it would be awesome if you could get there quickly and efficiently, but sometimes it takes a bit more effort and sometimes not by the way we planned.
I think what’s important is that I just keep walking. If the bus isn’t in sight…well, you know the drill. I guess you can stand around waiting for the next bus to arrive, but if you haven’t figured it out yet, the longer you stand there the more crazies you’re bound to encounter and the more frustrated you’ll be if the bus is late.
So life lesson from the metro: If you know where you want to go, but life doesn’t seem to making it easy to get there…I suggest keep walking.
Oh, and avoid the crazies.
