musings of a girl without a car

ah, yes so about 15 minutes ago it happened. i have been waiting all winter long for this event. i simply knew it would come at any moment and the suspense was killing me as i waited patiently for the time to come. my friends.

i fell on the ice. flat on my ass.

this event happens once per winter and this year it waited until the middle of MARCH! ohhhhh the irony. a week before the official first day of spring. and what a tease as the last few days have been almost spring-like, until the most brutal day of yesterday where all the lovely mushy, muddy, slushy streets and sidewalks turned into the ice that nearly killed me.

anyway i'm fine. except i kind hurt all over, especially on the right side where i kinda landed funny on my arm and almost froze my hand off in the snow.

i'm just glad it finally happened so i don't have to keep wondering when it would.

this event may have bypassed me if i hadn't been taking the 3 minute walk from the bus stop to my house. yes, i'm still taking the bus. i have many musings about my bus ride today. my mind was working overload as i took #50 today, i feel i could almost write a book, just my little sister, Jenna did. in fact she sent her manuscript off to the a publisher today! i am so proud. everyone buy her book when it gets published!!! i thought i'd throw that in there. anyways, so i have a few thoughts for bus riders.

the first thing you must decide after boarding the bus is where to sit. i recommend you move to the back to the bus (remember that awesome old outkast song?). why the back? no not because that is where people play truth or dare. although that reminds me of my first kiss.... its true. but no, go to the back because then when the old people board, you don't have to give up your seat to them. brilliant! i commend the lovely young people who so willingly offer their seat to the weak and feeble, i just don't want it to be me giving up my comfy seat.

even after taking the bus a total of 12 times since January (approx one trip per week) i worry that the driver will suddenly change the route and i will have to walk from one side of the city to the next. yet, this does not seem to happen. i need to settle my little brain down.

do not settle the brain too much down however. you see, i tried to have a little nap on the bus but my head kept brushing past the little wire you pull to get the next stop. once i actually did pull it with my head brushing against the window, and i was like oh my, how embarrassing, he is going to stop and nobody is going to get out. it turned out fine as someone else luckily had the same stop as "i" did. phew, everyone is fine.

it can be very difficult being a bus rider. for instance, i witnessed a young man running to catch the bus and the driver did not see him and mindlessly drove along. i didn't want to be the one to stop the driver for that would entail being quite disruptive, a big social no-no. i always try to be socially conscious. other distresses include sitting with someone. how is one to know when the person on the inside wants out? oh the terrible things a bus rider must face! or the distress of the young lady when the driver did not see she was standing at the door to get out and almost drove away without letting her off! oh, how happy i was not to be in her most difficult situation!

finally, my last dilemma. most of the bus stops are rather far and few between. but for some reason on my street there are two stops right after each other, about a block between them. i always feel rather ridiculous when someone gets off at the first stop and then as soon as the bus starts up again, i press the wire to be dropped off 10 seconds later. however i do it anyway. you know why? because its not MY fault someone put two stops so close to each other! it saves me at least 3 minutes in my walk. ha. so there. i always feel rather defiant when i do this (evil laugh, muwahahaahaha).

oh there are so many things i could say of the bus. there were three specific stereotypes that i had about people who rode the bus. but i no longer believe that:

1. only old people ride the bus. there are people of all ages there. such community. and i like how ALL the old people wear funny hats. see, you can get fashion advice from riding the bus!

2. only poor people ride the bus as i found by the numerous amounts of lululemon, ipods (they are everywhere! how do i not have one?), fancy sunglasses and expensive shoes. i was rather jealous. but i was wearing my cool H&M jacket which more than made up for my lack of ipod. too bad H&M isn't plastered all over my coat.... what am i, in high school here??? please excuse me.

3. people on the bus have guns and other various weapons. yet so far no one on the bus has pulled out their gun. i think have this impression from watching Speed one too many times in grade 8 (i'm slighly wary of elevators too).

it has been three long months since the engine in my car went, and i have to say it has not been the worst situation that i have ever found myself in. i've saved hundreds on gas, parking tickets and plates. i love getting a ride to school and to work. i get to chit chat with my dad or jeff or the lady from work and i don't even think about traffic, something that used to get my shorts in a knot.

AND i get to share exciting things with someone! today dad drove me to school, and there was a contest on C95, and i called in and WE WON! yes, we won "fanfair" tickets to the Junos...not actual tickets to the concert but where we get to meet all the artists or something. apparently you can't buy them, they have to be won. they are EXCLUSIVE. i loovvvve being exclusive. it's so posh. this is the third time in a year that i have won stuff on the radio. but never have i shared the experience with anyone! HA! what luck. and what a team we were! i love radio contests. the question in case you were wondering, was "which canadian artist made her way up through the 90s busking and playing in bars?" well i immediately thought alanis morisette & i called in and it kept ringing and ringing, and i waited and waited...but then when nobody was getting the answer, they added another clue - this artist was voted one of the most likely people to have their own talk show - and then dad said jann arden and i exclaimed OF COURSE. then suddenly i am ON THE RADIO with my absolutely, 100% correct answer and we were all very excited, me, dad, shauna foster and rambling dave, all so excited together. all this excitement. moral of the story: HAD I NOT had a ride today, i would've said alanis morrisette and can you imagine the disappointment?

so dad and i are going to meet all the artists. he is most excited to meet nelly furtado, isn't that funny? he talks about her all the time, i think because he can't remember them all so he picked her to be his favorite! the funniest thing is before i called in, he was saying (as he has said many times) he wants nelly furtado to come sing at elim, and now he can ask her personally! hahahaha. that is so funny, i just called him to tell him that and we had a big laugh.

ANYWAYS, despite the many "goodnesses" of carpooling, becoming more environmental and also more cultural by taking the bus, and saving mega bucks, i do hope to buy a car in May. like my very own, real cool car with air conditioning and a CD player! i have never had a cd player in my car ever before so i tell you, this is exciting to me. it's about time, as i am turning 25 this year. i am getting too old to have never had a cd player in my car. i'm so old fashioned!

i must leave you all. this really was too long of a post but i must say i had a lovely time writing it. i smiled and laughed at myself the entire way through this and after all, isn't that what blogging is all about?