• You carry an all-purpose bag with you everywhere you go.
• Aside from your bus pass, your wallet contains at least two of the following items:
o Library card.
o Co-op membership card.
o Car-sharing membership card.
o The phone number of someone who recently chatted you up at a stop.
• You consider any distance under a mile to be “a short walk.”
• You’ve memorized Metro’s rider information number and/or web address, and at least one bus schedule.
• You’ve memorized the locations of public (or not-so-public) restrooms on your regular routes.
• You keep a running list of items you need, so you can be ready the next time you’re walking by (or waiting near) a store that carries one of them.
• You use at least one delivery service.
• You’ve traveled with an item casual riders would consider bizarre (some examples: a chair, shelving, a backpack full of change).
• You know without looking at the sign whether the bus you’re boarding is “pay as you leave” or “pay as you enter”.
• You have at least one bus friend.
• You have a bus pastime (some examples: reading, knitting, drawing [not so easy in a moving vehicle], eavesdropping) and carry the necessary supplies with you at all times.
• You have a favorite seat.
• Assuming you’re able-bodied, you can stand without holding on and walk while the bus is moving.
• You know exactly how long it takes a particular route to get from the time point on the schedule to your stop.
• You know exactly how often (and in what sequence) the signal lights change at crucial stops.
• You know exactly how long it takes you to walk three blocks.
• You sometimes leave a social event (lunch with friends or a party) in a rush, before you’ve had the chance to say a proper goodbye.
• You’ve been encouraged by well-meaning family members and friends to grow up, get over it, and buy a car already.
• You have at least one device or gadget that makes riding more convenient (some examples: a cell phone with a data plan for checking schedules, etc. on the go; a GPS unit; a PDA with city maps).
• When you’re at a big gathering (sporting event, festival, concert, fair) you see several people you remember from the bus.
• You pay very close attention to weather reports.
• You think of the operator of the year as a celebrity.
• You’ve made peace with:
o Comfortable shoes.
o Low-maintenance hair.
o Weatherproof outerwear (see above).
• You are an expert at fending off unwanted advances.
• You always know what time it is.
I realize all of these won’t be true for all bus chicks–I own no ride improving-gadgets for example (though Bus Nerd certainly owns his share)–but if you recognize yourself in half or more of these, odds are good that you’ve got a few (hundred?) rides under your (practical-yet-fashionable) belt.
