Eyes Wide Open.....

Yesterday's bus/bike adventure was new in every way. I had to get from work which is downtown up to NorthPark for a quick bite to eat. I was exausted from the work marathon from the previous 48 hours, but, I didn't want to cheat--again. So....I learned if I ride my bike to the 12th/Imperial MTS station, I can hop on the 11 bus to Adams avenue, and that would take me to El Zarape, where I would meet a gal pal for a quick dinner. I've never actually put my bike on the bus rack, but had read horror stories about people stealing bikes off the front of the bus while the bus was stopped. I proceeded with caution. I was more concerned about jumping in front of that big bus to load my bike onto the front of it, and less concerned about the theft. Getting my bike stolen off the bus while I was actually on it, would probably cause some sort of chase scene, which would actually be a good story, so, my concern weighed more heavily on the bike loading sitch. (Sitch - situation in Mandi-speak) I rode over to the 12th/Imperial station, bought my $5.00 day pass which gets me onto any MTS transport anywhere in SD county--trolley, bus, etc. I was to look for the #11. It rolled up, I walked over to the bus driver's window, and said, "Excuse me, I have a bike, I've never done this before, can u help me?" Although she had a crew of new passengers loading the bus, she was very accomodating. She got off the bus, and showed me to pull the rack down, pull down the front lever, load my bike with the front tire, near the front lever, and clasp the lever. VOILLA! We did it. It was so easy. Then I looked at her and said, "Does this bus go to Adams Avenue?" And she said, "NO". You'll take the next #11 that will be here any second. I unlevered my bike, lifted it off the rack and waited for the "next #11". Thank God she was so accomodating and gave me a quick bike loading tutorial. Then..the next #11 came up, I was a pro in the bike load dept. I knew exactly what to do, pull down the rack, load the bike, secure the lever--and VOILLA! This time...we were on our way. I made my way to the back of the bus.. not in a Rosa Parks sorta way--but, in a "i like to sit in the back of the bus" sorta way. It's probably a throw back to being in 4th or 5th grade when all the cool kids sat in the back of the bus. I can't remember being that cool, but, I do remember the back of the bus was cool. Anyway, I ended up sitting next to a gal who seemed to be mildly normal. Anyone who has ridden a bus in any city knows that it represents the city's best and most diverse people. She seemed more like me than anyone else on the bus. She was asking the bus driver about a route, and I went in for the intro. "Excuse me, do you ride the bus because you don't have a car, or for environmental reasons?" Most people are agitated or mortified by my questions--but she was very welcoming. She replied: "Well, my husband is a hippie. We have 1 car, but, whenever possible we don't drive it. In fact, there is a festival next weekend called Kick Gass celebrating not driving your car and only taking public transportation. My husband's band is playing at it. It's sponsored by MTS and it's at Quallcomm stadium". WOW, I was so delighted to hear this. Had I never taken the next #11 bus, and never sat in the back of the bus, I never would have heard about this new event. We carried on a long conversation about various topics when I noticed she had 2 large bags with her. 1 of them was bright pink. So, I asked: "Where are you coming from with those 2 big bags?" She said, "TJ". "TJ??? Did you go shopping for the day?" She went on to tell me that she was in TJ for the week giving a stress relief workshop. She is a psychologist and was speaking to women about ways to reduce stress in their lives. She said exercise--bike riding and walking specifically--are the top ways. She also went on to educate me on Cortizal. She said that women get "grease" around their belly from Cortizal. I asked, "Grease" what do you mean?" She had a heavy accent so as she tried to translate what "grease" was I suggested she was talking about FAT. "Do you mean fat? like fat rolls on your stomach?" She said, "Yes". It was time for her to leave the bus, and as she got off she said, "I will leave a ticket for you next week with your name on it at the Kick Gass event"... I am totally going. Can't wait