Daydream Believer

I stood at the bus stop in the rain this morning. In fact, my whole morning started with rain--dark skies, no thunder, huge droplets. I promptly reset my alarm (no need to run) and went back to sleep. Then I woke up to more rain, a nice 2 block walk to the stop, and we're back at the beginning of my post.

So I'm at the bus stop, grumbling because it's 10 min late and I could've stayed dry at home, and the bus finally emerges, opens its doors, and swallows me. I slosh to the back, sit down and realize that the radio is exceptionally loud this morning. Cupid is playing. The swooney sound combined with the tappity tap of the rain lulled me into a trance.

Then the song ended, followed by some mundane Lubbock commercials, so I began looking at the people on the bus. Everyone else seemed to be in a trance, too. But the cool thing is that every seat was taken and all were filled with different generations, races, religions...all bobbing their heads to the motion of the bus.

When suddenly the commercials stop and Hooked on a Feeling bursts through like a rainbow [ok seriously, how funny is the slomo hand moving the 45 to the turntable?]. And it's like magic, like one of those coke commercials. I begin singing, uncontrollably, and at first Devon, the Freebird's employee, looks at me quizzically, but then joins in. As do the twins on the second row and the woman in front of Devon who looks like one of the Supremes. Finally, the whole bus is swaying and singing, "I-I-I-I-I am hooked on a feeling. I'm high on believing that you're in love with me."

It was amazing, a ray of sunshine in my day.

And then I realized, I was the only one singing.

Home or Bus-t

Let me start by saying that Lubbock has a decent public transport system. It's remarkably on time, efficient, clean, and free for students. I pick up the bus about 2 blocks away from my house and arrive at Tech in minutes. the bus driver, the same one everyday, is friendly and happy and is always singing something from the sixties. Today, I even thought that if this whole PhD thing doesn't work out, I should just become a Lubbock bus driver.

Arrived at campus, did the work thing, then got caught up in a conversation. When I got to the bus stop, the bus was starting to pull away. I ran after it, flagged it down, and got on without thinking to look at the number. It pulled away as usual, and then suddenly I noticed that it wasn't going the direction it usually did. I tried to get people's attention, but everyone was listening to their iPods. So I made it up to the front and asked the driver what line I was on. Obviously, I took the wrong bus.

I got off on the next stop, which was at the med center, about 4 miles from campus. He stops, lets me out, and then I walk up to the next bus stop to check the schedule. I'm a little panicked at this point because the buses in Lubbock stop running at 6:30. Well, this one stopped at 5:10; I looked down at my watch. It was 5:15.

Nothing left to do but walk. And walk I did, which distancewise wasn't too terrible (about 6 miles), but I had to walk along a pretty busy highway with no crosswalks in sight. Finally, about 3 miles in, the traffic suddenly let up, and I sprinted across the 4 lanes in platform crocs, Hello Kitty backpack laden with sweat. Usually, if I walk to school, I'm conscious of shoes, fabric, and carry my REI backpack. Not today. Nope. Not today. Plus, the last meal I had was at 7pm yesterday and was only a cup of soup.

I made it to my favorite coffee shop but decided not to go in because I was soaked from my pits to my back. So I walked the last mile home and headed straight for the powerade.

So the moral of this story, kids, is to pay close attention to the bus number, and, like a good little scout, always be prepared.

Ok, I need food.