BUS STORY # 335 (Fellow Traveler)

I Ride . . ., a photo by busboy4 on Flickr.

After my first day of taking the 140 San Mateo to the north end of the route, I wasn’t really sure I’d find myself among company at the bus stop to go home.

The second evening, I was joined by a woman who told me she she wasn’t a regular; she was out here for a couple of days helping a friend in her shop.

But she used to be a regular. She used to work out at the old Citibank building which is the last stop before the bus turns right at the end of San Mateo. And she took the 140 every day.

Turns out she still takes the bus -- to work, and as much as possible, to everywhere else.

I ask why, of course. And, as it turns out, her story is my story.

Driving is a hassle. Owning and maintaining a car is expensive. The environment. She doesn’t mention reading -- or collecting bus stories.

I ask her how she gets around for shopping. She does indeed have a routine, with routes that get her to where she wants to go.

Does she have a car?

Oh, yes, but her husband drives it most of the time. He can have it, as far as she’s concerned.

This is where our stories part ways. Both my wife and I have a car. And I use mine to do almost all my shopping on weekends. Years ago, I tried working out a schedule to run the same weekend errands by bus, but with the reduced weekend services, it simply ate up too much time. But when I retire...

She gets off somewhere between Montgomery and Menaul. We’ve talked most of the way, undistracted by the heavy going-home traffic.