Speaking of the 26…

From our second ride:

Twentysomething dude #1: “So, did you call Lisa?”
TD #2: “Yeah, I called her.”
TD #1: “She’s a cute girl, huh?”
TD #2: “She’s alright. She’s got some cute friends.”
TD #3: “So you’ll be calling again.”

26+26 (or, Friday night in Fremont)

Last night we rode the 26 up to Fremont to watch my friend Coby‘s band, The Goats, play at the Dubliner. The show was excellent, and it’s a good thing, since it took a bit of doing for us to get there.

Fremont is not a common destination for me, so I didn’t pay much attention to Metro’s reroute announcements when the bridge construction started back in May. I should have.

By the time we realized we had missed our stop (which, it turns out, is currently closed), we were almost at 65th–and, I might add, the only people left on the bus. We had to take another 26 back to 40th & Aurora, and then (thank God Bus Nerd installed Pocket Streets on his phone) navigate our way through the fun maze of crooked intersections, extra-long crosswalks, and pedestrian underpasses to our destination–thankfully, in time for the show.

Coby
Coby (aka ‘Bus Chick’s favorite rock star’) is also a full-time bus rider.

Coby’s performance was worth all the effort (and then some), but I definitely (re)learned a few lessons:

1) On routes you don’t ride regularly, never assume you’ll “recognize” your stop–especially if you’re going somewhere at night. Find out the exact location in advance.
2) Until Metro provides a system map that includes all the street names, carry a city map in your bus chick bag–or make sure it’s installed on one of your electronic devices.
3) In case you forget to follow rules 1 and 2: A well-prepared bus nerd can come in handy in a pinch.

A mile (and more) in a bus chick’s shoes

We bus chicks tend to (quite literally) walk our behinds off. While all this walking might be good for our bodies, it’s not so good for our footwear. After all, there are only so many times a girl can replace the heels on her favorite pair of boots.

Recently, I mentioned this problem to my friend Arif, a fellow bus rider who also happens to have one of the most amazing collections of shoes I have ever seen. Arif walks almost as much as I do, but his shoes always look like he just took them out of the box. His secret? Well, there’s the fact that he has enough pairs to limit repeating (a tactic this bus chick envies but does not condone). And then there’s the secret that his shoe-loving daddy passed down: taps. Arif puts rubber taps on all his shoes. They prevent the heel from wearing down, are fairly easy to replace, and because they’re rubber, have the added benefit of muffling sound.

I can’t wait to try some on those boots.

Speaking of unprofessional…

This behavior–reported in the Kansas City Star–is definitely grounds for an Out of Service. (Yes, I finally decided on a name for the “other award.”)

MINNEAPOLIS – A city bus driver who complained about a gay-themed ad got official permission not to drive any bus that carries that ad, according to an internal memo confirmed Tuesday by Metro Transit.

Here’s a question: What does this driver do about gay passengers?

Just wondering…

Eastbound 4, 4 PM

A cell phone conversation:

“So by this time, I’m cussing the woman out, and she says, ‘Ma’am, I’d prefer you didn’t use that kind of language. Can we try to keep it professional?’ So I said, ‘Y’all are the ones who f-ed up my account. How professional is that?'”

Pilgrims on a bus bound for glory

Get on the Bus (source: Amazon.com)Today marks the 10th anniversary of one of my all-time favorite movies, Spike Lee’s Get on the Bus.

For those who haven’t seen the film: It’s about a group of black men who travel (by bus, of course) from Los Angeles to Washington, DC to attend the Million Man March. (Today is also the 11th anniversary of the march.)

It’s no coincidence that Lee chose a bus (the most democratic of vehicles) as his characters’ mode of travel. The men come from varied backgrounds, circumstances, and stages of life but share in common a desire to attend the march, and, consequently, their time on the bus. Over the course of the three-day ride, they discuss their beliefs, prejudices, hopes, fears, and histories. They discuss the problems facing the black community and their differing views about how to fix them. They develop friendships and rivalries.

No one mentions public transit. :)

To commemorate the film’s anniversary, I watched it again and found it just as moving and (sadly) relevant as I did the first time. It was definitely worth the bus trip (speaking of getting on the bus) to Scarecrow, including the return trip on the Husky Downer Express.

A side note: In real life, Rosa Parks (also known as my all-time favorite bus chick) was one of the speakers at the Million Man March.