When I was 14 Years old, my dad decided that it was time for me to learn how to ride the city bus…BY MYSELF!
Now a teenager, I thought I was so grown up and could do anything I wanted.
Boy, was I wrong!
Daddy did show me about the buses and how to know which bus went where. fortunately at that time, I only needed the one bus that would take me from our townhouse to downtown and the local library…where I was working for the summer. Out of school, dad wanted me to keep busy and not be hanging around the house all summer.
Well, that first day on my own, I thought I was hot stuff!
I got to the bus stop, got on the bus, and made it downtown and the library; but I was really scared…so much for being that hot shot teenager, huh?
Obviously, as the summer went along, riding the bus became more comfortable and second nature.
Since those early days of learning to ride the bus, I have ridden buses, trolleys, trains, and subways in a few states and two different countries.
There are still times when I am somewhat apprehensive about figuring out where to go, but I am not afraid to ask questions…sometimes lots of questions…and I get there.
When I went to New York City to see my nephew in a boxing match, my brother said that he wanted to be adventurous…and ride the subway train! It wasn’t a big deal for me, but it was indeed an adventure for my brother. And he and the boys did indeed have an adventure on the way home. Being late, the trains in NYC change, but brother didn’t know about that and since he sent me home earlier with the girls, I couldn’t tell him.
I have ridden hundreds, perhaps thousands of buses since those days, but that first one was not so sure about the whole affair; despite my apparent bravado.