The RTA

So about two months ago, when I started working for Dix & Eaton, I drove our Mazda protege to work everyday. I would sit in that car for about 40 minutes every morning switching radio stations...convinced that if I pressed the buttons enough, the noisy morning show would disappear and magically music would play. Indeed I was disappointed each time! I would creep into construction infested downtown Cleveland and pull into the parking garage where it cost me $8.50 a day to park (that's with a hike to work...if I parked in the garage for the building I work in, it'd cost me $12.50 a day!). At the end of the day, I would turn around and make the trek back home. All in all, I used about a tank of gas a week...and with these crazy gas prices, I'm sure you're all aware of how quick that would add up! So after about a month of this, I decided that I've had enough. So I quit my job so that I wouldn't have to go downtown anymore! Okay, so I'm joking about having quit my job...I found a better solution than that.

At the beginning of October, I became more than just an acquaintance of Cleveland's public transportation system when I bought my first bus pass. To be honest, I was scared of riding the bus. I've seen the type of people waiting for the bus downtown...they're not exactly well groomed and smelling like a bouquet of flowers. My mind kept creating all sorts of interesting situations of getting stuck sitting next to Oscar the Grouch on vacation away from his garbage can! The first person I came in contact with at the bus stop near my home wasn't exactly the nicest. She has an 80s punker haircut with tatooed on face make-up (Adam keeps daring me to go up to her and say "I love Motley Crew too"). We weren't exactly sure where to catch the bus so we stopped and asked her...we must've caught her off guard because she looked at us like we were aliens coming to abduct her. I was relieved to find that everyone else at the stop seemed to be pretty normal. I quietly took my seat somewhere near the back of the bus (this is where all the "cool" kids sat in elementary school) and quickly realized that the "cool" people sat at the front of the bus. It would have been a great opprtunity for me to mesh in with their group because the leader, Joe Cool (okay, so his name is just Joe) was talking about The Office...a show I never miss. I made a mental note to ease my way up to their area over the next couple of days. I didn't want to start out as an outcast of the bus social life, and hopefully in the future another conversation would occur that I could casually jump into. Well, as I moved around each time I rode the bus, I met a wide array of people. There are the City Year young adults who wear red jackets and khaki pants, the woman who snorts through her throat, and the little old ladies who are real troopers to go downtown to work everyday. I eventually made it to the front of the bus where the "cool" people sit. I had to make a fool of myself before they finally noticed me...I kept getting on a different bus stops because I'd be running late. It was great finally being up there, but I missed the colorful personalities throughout the entire bus. The journey from the back of the bus to the front has allowed me to have an adventure everyday and get to know a lot of people. I like saving money and time using the RTA, but my favorite part is all the interesting people I get to meet!