Riding the Bus
I didn’t sleep too well last night. I rarely ever get anything even remotely similar to insomnia. In fact I am usually out cold within minutes of closing my eyes. But last night, no such luck. I couldn’t shut the brain off.
What was happening is that I was starting to feel a little off before I went to bed. Scratchy throat, sinuses draining, and just a general blehh kinda feeling. So my head wouldn’t let go of all the “what ifs”. Given my lung situation, even a something as simple as a cold can be a battle sometimes. So the anxiety kicked in and would not let me sleep and get my rest. Which is what I desperately needed.
By the time I got to sleep it must have been about 2:30am and I had to be up at 7am, naturally.
Today was the day I was dropping off my Van to get fixed from the minor accident I had a week ago. I had gotten two estimates, and went with the one that was half the price. I always end up going to this guy. I don’t know why I bother getting other estimates. If you are in Windsor and you need body work, I highly recommend Ron’s Collision on Howard near Erie. Great work and very fair prices.
So I dropped off my van at 9am and then had to take the bus home. I had checked the schedule the night before to make sure which buses are accessible. Every other bus. Perfect. I only had to wait for about 15 minutes and as it was a nice sunny morning, it wasn’t too cold.
I don’t ride the bus very often. Obviously, it’s why I got a van, to avoid having to rely on public transportation. But I didn’t dislike todays experience. Particularly this morning on my way home from the body shop.
The driver was friendly and attentive and really seemed to enjoy his job. Very different from my experience this afternoon. This afternoon she was rude and unprofessional and made me feel like I was troubling her.
I was sitting at the bus stop when she came around the corner. She looked at me, slowed down and then kept going. I’m sorry, I guess I don’t know the routine. Is sitting at the bus stop not enough to indicate you wish to ride the bus? Was I suppose to flap my arms or wave her in like a 747? I chased the bus and I guess other passengers must have told her. She stopped about 20 meters down the block. When I got there, she opened the door and asked if I wanted to get on. No, lady, I just like to race buses in my wheelchair. I answered yes and she made a face as if to say, “oh great, I’m already running late and now I have to lower this ramp”. Once I got on, she spent the entire ride chatting with a woman who stood right next to her. Normally I wouldn’t care except I was relying on landmarks to see where I was going to get off the bus, and I could see out with the woman standing there. Besides, I would prefer it if the driver of the bus paid attention to what she was doing.
Anyway, as I said, the driver this morning was great. Two completely different experiences.
LED #5: What did I learn today? I learned that it costs $2.45 to ride the bus, and that in all honesty, it doesn’t take a whole lot longer to get where you’re going. Well, that depends where you are going, but in my case today, it maybe added 15 or 20 minutes to my travel time. Not bad at all.
PS: Yes, I am under the weather. Not very bad at all so far, so keep your fingers crossed ok? Also, you may have noticed my van was only in the shop for one day. That is because all the damage was to trim parts. The whole front bumper assembly, ground effects on one side etc. He had all the parts in his shop last week and he pre-painted them. All he had to do today was replace parts and realign my door.
AbitibiSouth 
Sorry that nasty bus driver was so put out…and I almost wish you would have told her about enjoying chasing buses in your wheel chair…maybe tell her you won a gold medal in that event in the Olympics!
Glad you had a good experience earlier.
Glad the van is fixed and you don’t have to depend on public transportation.
(I’d write a letter to that woman’s boss btw. Someone else might not be as speedy or able as you are to race her down).
Hugs!
What a story! You should have told her exactly that you have fun racing buses in your wheelchair; maybe it would have made her think. I will keep my fingers crossed that you stay well, and get some rest. Blessings and love, O
Use all that speed you were generating racing the bus to outrun this cold, Syl!
Glad to hear you are now completely done with the scary snow-related accident–now that the van is back to full health, you can move on to greater things.
I’m one of those strange individuals that actually enjoy riding the bus, even though I have a perfectly good car sitting in my driveway. I wish more people gave it an honest shot, without all the classism getting in the way. How else can you get to where you want to go all while fiddling with your hand-held device or reading a book? It’s a luxury, though most people look down their noses at it.
You do, however, get stuck with incorrigible drivers every now and then.
Chris, Thanks for reading and thanks for the comment. I truly did enjoy the experience in the morning. You’re right, it is fun to be able to fiddle with the blackberry while getting where you’re going. I like being around people too, for the most part. When I mentioned not wanting to rely on public transportation as the reason for buying a van in the first place, I meant Handi-Transit. (local Disabled Transport service) I think this may warrant a blog post of it’s own. Stay tuned.
oh – the life of luxury. You two on buses without children.
I appreciate the “strap them down so they can’t move” part of taking them in my van.
When I said that you needed a hobby, I had NO IDEA you’d go with “racing buses”. COOL!
Seriously though, my vote for your hobby is “taking vitamins” and “taking a nap”.
I vote “Kitty Massage”. It takes little effort and training to become proficient. :o)