Wednesday, June 16, 2010

a birthday blog!

First I should begin by wishing my co-blogger and BFF a very happy birthday! My goal was to wish her happy birthday through every technology I could think of and so far I've covered the mail, the telephone, text message, twitter, facebook, and now the blog! If there is one I missed please let me know, I still have about two hours to finish up my mission.

However this is not just one more way to wish you a happy birthday my friend. I have substantive content to provide too. Well...maybe not substantive, but content nonetheless.

Whenever I take the bus, or whenever I leave the house by myself, I always have my iPod with me. It helps insulate me from the awkward situations that I often find myself if I'm ever without my modern defense mechanism. When I get on the bus, I always stare at the slot for my crisp dollar bills, say hello to the driver and hurry to my seat, eyes glued to the floor. I always assumed that the driver reciprocated my cheerful greeting with an equally cheerful salutation of their own. Well I learned today, the first day I've ever actually paused my iPod when getting on the bus, that they don't. I suppose I can't really blame them. It's not as if I went out of my way to make eye contact and really engage them in a human way. And I would get pretty tired of having to greet every passenger that got on my bus.

I always thought that I had this instant connection with bus drivers. Tthere are some people who take the bus only occasionally and that is fine. But not me. I have been a fan of public transportation since middle school. And I thought evidence of my years riding with the CDTA would be clear on my war torn face and would signal to the drivers "Hey, this girl knows what's going on here." It does not.