Public transportation blows

So I know it's hip to be green. It's hip to know your way around a bus schedule, to know which trains connect with which lightrale system. It's cool to call yourself an "RTD junkie". Yeah. I get it. And we're all doing the world a big favor by climbing on the bus, avoid getting spoken to, transferring buses, freezing your ass off in questionable parts of town, and all that jazz. Maybe next time I'll bring a hemp shoulder bag and a copy of "Diet for a New America" with me and listen to the shins on my ipod.

But UUUGGGHHHHH. It sucked tonight.

I managed to initially get on the first correct bus, which arrived in a timely manner. I got of at my correct transfer spot. As I was walking towards Broadway, I noticed a bus blowing past my transfer stop. No big deal, I thought, that one wasn't going where I'm going anyways. I had myself a seat on the bench and waited for the 0L bus to take me three miles further south on Broadway than I was.

About ten minutes later, a bus pulls up, bus 0, and the digital sign on the front says it's headed for South Broadway. Perfect! I board like the good little citizen I am and enjoy the heat. We're be-bopping along, all fine and dandy, till the bus takes an unexpected turn. Not to my apartment. Towards the Wal-Mart. Which is far from home.

I used to ride the bus all the time in California, where I grew up. In fact, it was my main mode of transportation from ages 14 to 18. I'd forgotten the sense of dread I felt when I realized my bus was headed in the wrong fucking direction.

We wound up at the lightrale station. The bus I was supposed to have taken was the one that blew past me as I was getting off my first leg of the trip. The next one came around in1y7 minutes, and apparently the creepy guy who'd joined up with me on my stop on Broadway decided he was going in the same direction I was for this leg of the trip. And he wanted to chat. I called Dean, who thankfully was on his way home and we arranged to meet up in front of the Wal-Mart. Creepy guy kept answering all the questions I was asking Dean on the phone. .

The good part of today was I got a ton of exercise. Not only did I work it on the elliptical for 26 minutes on my lunch break (that's a minute longer than last week folks!), I hoofed it too three bustops, King Soopers and back and about a quarter mile from the lightrale station to the Wal-Mart.

All in all, a decent day. Perhaps tomorrow I'll get on two correct buses, and not just one.