18 - public transportation

I live in a city where the communal past time involves complaining about our public transportation system. I myself have been reduced to tears on more than one occasion after waiting a half hour for a bus in a snowstorm, a derailment effectively bringing the entire system to its knees and closing down a portion of the subway for "maintenance" and packing people into overheated, over-crowed shuttle buses that proceed to get stuck in traffic. We have the oldest public transportation system in the country and some days it really shows it's age. Did I mention my fellow passengers? Not everyone adheres to the strictest of hygiene regimens, others feel the need to shout their entire cell phone conversation for the entire length of their journey and if you dare smile at a fellow passenger you are more likely to get a scowl than a smile in return.

It's not a perfect system but I love it. I love public transportation and I love that I live in a city that has such an interconnected system. I love the view from the windows, I love the crazy mix of passengers. Some days I even love that the bus is late so I can sit at the bus stop a little while longer to people watch. I don't like to be in a car for longer than five minutes so I gratefully accept whatever service I can get. Some days that service means careening down one of the main streets of my town to beat all of the lights while passengers hold on for dear life and other days that means last night's bus driver who waited the few seconds for me to catch up to the bus stop so I didn't have to wait another 20 minutes at 11pm.