Friday, September 11, 2009

Bussing

Yesterday I attempted my first use of public transportation here in Massachusetts. Our car is still in the shop (and they have no idea why it won't start, a whole week since we towed it there...wah), but I didn't want to postpone my doctor checkup, since I just love getting to hear Little's heartbeat. So I figured out the schedule to walk/ride the bus from our house to the birth center, which is technically located in a different city. Bold? Yes, thank you, it was.



First thing to realize, the nearest bus stop to our house was a fifteen minute walk away, based on Google's estimation. Since I am a waddling pregnant lady, I gave myself twice that time frame "just in case." When the bus still hadn't arrived ten minutes past its scheduled time, I called the central station and double checked that it was still en route. With reassurance that it was, I stayed at the roadside for a few more minutes, ready to wave down the bus whenever it might come by.



I saw a large, square-windowed vehicular beast rolling toward me, so I vigorously started waving my arm--I would take no chances on getting passed by. But the bus did pass me by...because it turned out not to be a bus. It was a motor home, full of smiling people. A few minutes later the real bus arrived, only it was not a bus either. It was one of those mini-van types of public transports. Cute. Very clean and comfy.



With two transfers, I assumed naturally I would miss at least one of them, and sure enough I did. Thankfully the missed transfer occured on the way home, so I did still get to my appointment on time and heard cute Little's heart thumping away. By the way, my caregiver had lots of praise for my excellent sugar levels, which means a lot because I have had issues in the past (before pregnancy). Thank you, my wonderful body, for staying healthy! But back to the missed transfer issue, the bus I needed to catch for getting home only came once per hour, so I enjoyed some significant down time in a sketchy park area bus stop. Armed with the September issue of the Ensign, munching a box of raisins packed in my purse, I felt pretty satisfied with even this delay.

A good excursion overall, and one that left me feeling strangely liberated. If anyone is seeking some spice in life, a day using the city bus just might do the trick.

2 comments:

Brianne said...

When I first moved here I rode the bus to and from work every day. Sometimes I miss those days. You can meet a lot of interesting characters on the bus. Plus I got a lot of reading done during my hour long communte on the bus! I'm glad you made it there OK.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your healthy doctor visit! I have always appreciated the bus system.