Get On the Bus

[landshark]

One of my most anticipated events of this Fair was to get on what is offensively and euphemistically referred to as the ‘Ghetto Bus”. I had heard so much about the experience of riding a Centro public bus shuttle to the Fairgrounds. Since I was a free spirit this year at the Fair and had no job responsibilities, I decided that among the new experiences for me was to get on that bus and share the experience with you. When gas prices on Thursday went up 45 cents in one afternoon, Friday was the day I called it quits on anything but absolutely necessary driving.

So, I made plans to hop the Shoppingtown bus to the Fair.

Arriving with a head filled with expectations, I was so totally taken aback by what I witnessed. First of all, there was not a single person of color in line. Everybody was white, middle class or higher, and were lots of families and children. Though I expected a gangsta experience, what I got was more mayonnaise and white bread. So White and Yuppie was this crowd that when the driver attempted to give a woman change for her overpayment, she refused the quarters saying, “that’s ok, consider it a donation to Centro.” Who gives a donation to Centro?

The service was timely. The bus was clean and made good time. Shoppingtown parking lot to Gate 1 of the Fair took approximately 20 minutes on a busy Friday afternoon,

OK, I said … it was the afternoon and most punks and brats don’t come out until after dark. Since I had planned to take a late bus back to Shoppingtown, I figured the crowd and experience would be different.

Nope.

Getting to the bus stop to leave the 10:30 last night, I was overwhelmed with the size of the crowd. To myself I though there was no way they were going to get all these people waiting into one bus that runs once an hour. I walked up to a Centro worker and asked if the people who did not get on the one bus would have to wait another hour in hopes of getting on the next one. I had instant visions of New Orleans and the Superdome when the last bus arrived. Centro had it all under control and was running four buses non stop around the clock.

And yes, the ride back was as was the ride to the Fair. Lilly white, yuppie, quick, and painless.

For $2.50, the service, timeliness, and comfort of taking the “Ghetto Bus” is by far the best Fair buy around. Considering the cost of gas and parking, only a fool would drive.

Oh, and let me add a P.S. to this ...

While en route, I had the chance to see several trees with their leaves changing color. Indeed in these last hours of summer, one should reach out to experience and explore all that life has to offer --- before we once again crawl into our frozen caves for the winter.
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I dont want a life I can live with. I want a life I can't live without.