So this is the bus...

This week, thanks to the college kids moving to (or back to) school, parking at work has been tricky. My usual lot as well as my backup one had been closed, and I received conflicting info as to when they'd open. Monday I drove around for awhile and lucked out, as some city dweller was just leaving his large space. But because I can't parallel park worth a crap and spaces are far and few, I decided to look into taking a bus. 

Public transportation is not for everyone. In fact the hubby told me the only way he would ever get on a bus was if someone put his casket in there (lovely, eh). But I am all kinds of optimism mixed with sensibility so I figured it could not be that bad. Probably the worst part about it is there have been so many stops eliminated, so it is not convenient for everyone.

My original plan was to catch a bus a couple communities over, where the kid goes to day care, since I drop her off. But, alas, I discovered that would entail dropping her off about 20 minutes earlier. Considering the kid has enough trouble getting up as it is, and I feel bad she has to wake up early all year round now, I was thinking this was not going to work. Then I talked to my bus-driving neighbor who said I might want to consider a park and ride a few communities away that runs busses fairly often and which would be going towards work anyway. I remembered then that an occasional blog commentor suggested this very route a few months ago. 

So I threw caution to the wind and did it yesterday! 

It was a relatively short drive there, through mostly side streets (which meant little traffic!). When I arrived, I was surprised by the number of cars parked there. I had no idea this many people took public transportation from one area! Fortunately, I found a space faaaaaaar away (and I got there around 7:45, which is not that late). I walked the few minutes to the bus and waited only about five minutes more. 

The ride itself was uneventful, which I was hoping for. As I suspected, there was nary a crazy or drunk person in sight (who would be up at that hour?). And I made it to work 15 minutes early.

At the end of the workday, I left work three minutes early, which allowed me to get the bus at just after 5 (my stop is about three minutes from my office). I was back at the lot in under 20 minutes and home about 7 to 10 minutes earlier than normal. The only negative of the whole experience was the BO emanating from a woman who picked me to sit me next to.

Today I got a later start and ended up watching the bus drive away just before I walked up to the station, so I had to wait another eight minutes, but a coworker was also there, so I had someone to chat with. He spent time on the bus reading, as a number of people do, but that is just not for me. The bus ride home was A-OK. I got on the bus at just after 5, and best of all, there were no smelly people next to me!

I have decided that I kind of like the bus! I love that it saves me $7 in parking every day (but I do have an FSA for parking that I have to use every month, though I have some wiggle room). I definitely will use it on occasion and I might even consider dropping the FSA at some point and riding the bus often. Who would've thought!

Oh, and look at me putting one fewer car on the road (well, at least I will be on the road less)!