Another traveler joins the Great Mass Transit Experience
June 5th, 2008 by Vicki ViottiI’m about to join the ranks of the transit riders — for a little while, anyway.
Naturally, I’ve taken the bus before and know my own home-to-work route well. For the last two years I’ve worked in a department in which I don’t need my car for work that much.
It’s the chore of getting the kid to school that has kept me behind the wheel. That, and the fact that I like this semi-quiet time in the morning, and I love listening to morning radio. (Even the station my daughter prefers!)
But since the kid got her driver’s license, there have been more occasions when she begged for the car, I relented and found another way home.
Today marks the first day of her first summer with a driver’s license, and the booking has already begun. A friend who recently moved to the Mainland is coming back for a visit and is staying with us for a week.
“Mom,” the teenager informed me, “I’m gonna want the car kind of a LOT while Rachel’s here.”
Oooookay, I said.
I have the option of riding along with my husband, but he likes to leave later than I do. Also, wiith every upward tick of the per-gallon gas price, mass transit looks better and better, I figure that now’s a good time to try the bus on an experimental basis. The kid’ll be going off to college before I know it, and by then who knows what gas will cost?
I’ll let you know how it goes.
At least I can bring a radio headset along with me. No need to sacrifice that little pleasure.
– Vicki Viotti
June 7th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Hand over your car to Daughter and Rachel with a near-empty tank, and they may be sitting next to you waiting for the bus after a few days. Heh.
June 9th, 2008 at 8:01 am
I have been riding theBus for more than a year now and it feels good to lessen our family’s demand on petroleum while minimizing our carbon footprint. Today I rode in on the #1 that picked me up on Lunalilo Home Road at 5 a.m. I usually catch the 5:30, but Kid 2 is home for a week before summer school kicks in and some domestic engineering was required to accommodate her schedule. And there was standing room only on that bus before we cleared Kaimuki! The 5:30 bus always has folks standing. More and more of us are joining the ranks of public-transportation commuters. I read the morning paper on this ride (a valuable PLUS!), and when I’m through, I scoot over to clear the other half of my bench because soon someone will need to sit there.
The worst thing about theBus is the people who smoke and get on, and we have to breathe their rank molecules that burn our throats and probably cause some harm to our lungs. And people should be required to bathe before they get on theBus. And finally, no scents! There is such a thing as smelling too good or too skanky! Save it for your romantic interludes–and I hope that isn’t on theBus!
Although I must admit that one time two private-school adolescents decided the back door cove was an ideal location for some heavy petting. Next time I’m going to record it on my iPhone and put it on the Internet: IS THIS YOUR SON/DAUGHTER? IS THIS A STUDENT AT YOUR PRIVATE CATHOLIC SCHOOL?
June 17th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
So how is the great experiment going?
June 20th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Going fine. Rachel arrives Monday, so it will be an every-day thing then, but I’ve been taking the bus now and then. If you’re lucky enough to have a somewhat later work shift, as I do, the commute itself is REALLY QUICK.