Trimet takes up half of my day
It took over 2 hours to ride the bus from outer southeast Portland to Vancouver today. That's the same amount of time it takes to drive from San Diego to Los Angeles.
Riding the bus, however, is a fascinating experience. The slices of life, the scenes of humanity...colorful people ride the bus. They have not fallen prey to the imprisonment of the personal automobile. In a drastically isolated society they are forced to experience life together.
It is noisy, it can be annoying. It smells. Sometimes it smells very bad.
Other times it hints at redemption, reconciliation. Hope lives in the eyes of the tired traveler. Sparks fly when lives and worlds and stories collide in cramped spaces.
Riding the bus, however, is a fascinating experience. The slices of life, the scenes of humanity...colorful people ride the bus. They have not fallen prey to the imprisonment of the personal automobile. In a drastically isolated society they are forced to experience life together.
It is noisy, it can be annoying. It smells. Sometimes it smells very bad.
Other times it hints at redemption, reconciliation. Hope lives in the eyes of the tired traveler. Sparks fly when lives and worlds and stories collide in cramped spaces.
2:50 PM
Hurrah! I, too, sing the praise of public transportation, most especially as it relates to human interactions that my otherwise remain unexperienced. Having ridden the bus for years in my younger years (roughly 10-1/2 years ago), I concur with your assessment. Now, I gotta go. I'm sending you this email from my Blackberry while I'm gassing up my SUV at a Shell station...