BUS STORY # 393 (At The Old Town Transit Center In San Diego)

Young woman studying bus schedule. Downloaded from CommuterPageBlog.

We are waiting for the driver of the 10 to finish his break when I notice a young woman standing at the map showing the routes and schedules of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System.

She is standing there, looking very studiously at the display, with a spiral notebook open in her left hand. Every once in a while, she looks down at the notebook and writes something on the page.

I point her out to Mrs. Busboy. See, we’re not the only new riders around here.

She’s Asian -- Korean, I think -- and we begin speculating about whether she’s a native but new to the buses, or maybe a student who’s ranging beyond her usual campus-related routes, or a tourist, from out of town or maybe even out of country.

An older man in a jacket with an SDMTS patch on the right shoulder approaches her. We assume he’s one of the drivers, and has taken it upon himself to help. They begin talking in a foreign language. Ah, so, from out of country.

We can see from their expressions it’s not going well. We don’t know if the languages aren’t the same, or if the young woman just isn’t getting it.

Mrs. Busboy is trying to imagine what it takes to go to a country where you don’t know anyone and don’t speak the language and try to get around using the bus. She finds it challenge enough just thinking about trying to use the bus in Albuquerque. She feels for the young woman.

Our driver has returned to the bus and opened the doors. We join the riders in line to board.

We spot her again as we are leaving our bay, standing at the edge of another bay, looking out across the center. She looks anxious but determined, as if she may not know how to get there, but get there she most definitely will.

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Over the next five weeks, I will be posting stories about our experiences using the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System.