City-Slicker Commuter

I rode the bus this morning. Growing up in Alaska riding the bus was not really an option, other than the school bus and once with a school group I've never rode a public bus by myself before. Once I rode the MARTA bus to a Brave's baseball game (we got free tickets) with my friend Gary when we first got to Atlanta. Riding MARTA is still exciting to me too, I feel so 'city-slicker' when we do. But since I'm in midtown now my commute to work is about 55 minutes vs. the old 20 minutes, in conjunction with the fact that I HATE being in traffic and with gas prices at $3.39/gallon it was time to use public transportation regularly.

I could barely sleep last night and actually dreamt that I told someone I couldn't help them because I had to catch a 6:55 bus! So I got up really early (for me) at 6am, left the house at 6:25 and rode my bike to the MARTA station as fast as I could to catch the bus at 6:55. Yesterday the boys and I scoped out the bus stop which is only 1.4 miles from the house but I wanted to see it anyways. To my surprise there was no bike racks, only a fence to chain my bike to.

I had planned to get there early on the $20 bike I scored on craigslist (I offered twenty and he took it!) a couple weeks ago, and chain it up like it was a $2000 bike! Hopefully it will be there unharmed when I return this afternoon. I was proud that I made it there with 15 minutes to spare. I stood tall and proud even though no one else cared but I wan't out of breath and was happy with the lame bike. The bike that doesn't really fit me and isn't set up correctly so it made a really odd ride. The gears kinda stick and only the front brake works, so I have some work to do. I didn't check the temp before I left the house, I just wore what I normally wear to work- jeans, tee shirt and my favorite zip up sweatshirt. My hands froze on the bike ride, but it wasn't *too* bad so I was a little taken aback by the lady sitting at the bus stop with a bed comforter wrapped around her! I guess it was a little chilly! (Turns out it was about 35* this morning when I finally got to my desk.)

I have been studying the bus schedule online now for a few weeks trying to make sense of it all. For whatever reason I expected there to only be 1 bus this morning, there were like 15 on both sides of the street. I also didn't realize that they go by 'route numbers' I thought it would just say *To Conyers*....several said Conyers. I *thought* I remembered the route number online to be 481, but didn't see any 481's. But when the bus 421 pulled away from the curb at 6:50 I thought "Uh-oh I think that was my bus." I figured I better start asking.... there was a couple MARTA people so I asked them, they didn't know anything except they *thought* one bus went to Conyers- no help.

I crossed the street to ask a bus driver who's bus said East Conyers to Midtown (close to where I was going). His bus went to highway 138 in Conyers which is about 4 miles from my work. He said the bus I wanted already left, so I asked if I could bring my bike I could just ride the 4 miles to work. He said "You can bring your bike but NO, we should be able to get you there. Here come with me." By this time I had explained to him that this was my first time riding the bus and I worked at the jail by the Park and Ride and I was super confused by the online schedule. I followed him across the street to another bus and he asked the driver if she was going back to Conyers Park & Ride, first she said no, then shook her head yes. He told me "Get on this one, it will get you there." I said "Are you sure?" and thanked him for his help and waved good-bye as I boarded the bus not sure where I was going as this was not like I envisioned from the online schedule!

The money taker thing that I remembered from a bus ride for a field trip in grade school has been replaced with a credit card like swiper for a MARTA 'breeze' card (I'm not even sure where to get one of those.) I had cash. The driver shook her head and pointed to a hidden place to insert my dollars. I asked "It is $3 for round trip right?" she pushed some buttons and a ticket printed out the side that we both went to grab. She smiled at me as she handed it to me and I laughed. I took the first seat in the front behind the driver's partition. It was quiet and really warm, we made several more stops that were not listed ANYWHERE online, several RIGHT by my house. When she made her final stop before we got on the interstate she got up and checked the bus- I guess to see if anyone else was hiding on board? It was just me, I asked her if I could get on at ANY of the stops that weren't listed and if I could bring my bike. She was really nice as she explained that not all buses have bike racks but she does and we agreed on 'about' the time tomorrow and I told her I would be there with my bike. It was odd to ride without talking to her the rest of the way. I sank into the cushy seat and I put in my headphones as we drove to Conyers, I even watched a couple podcasts on my fabulous itouch. The sunrise was nice and she turned off the lights so it was dark inside as the sun rose over the interstate.

When we arrived she dropped me at the corner which isn't where she normally stops, and she helped me figure out where and when to catch the return bus to go home today. We said good-byes and have a nice day to each other. I had to laugh out loud as I started walking to my jobsite. I'm 31 years old and just rode the bus for the first time!