Get On The Bus

Today I finally stuck to my vow and took public transit to work. Last year I discovered that, as a military member, I could attain vouchers that would allow me to ride the bus for free. So, not only would I save money on gas but I would avoid the horrific traffic of Hampton Roads. Win-Win, right?


I meant to start riding the bus last week but was somehow able to justify putting it off because I wanted a week to sleep in get used to getting up at the ass crack of dawn. Actually, that time would have been better spent getting Muffin used to getting up in the pre-dawn hours because let me tell you - she was kind of a pill this morning.

Last week I set my alarm for 5am but wound up getting out of bed around 6:30am. Not quite on schedule. I could always find a reason to stay in my nice warm bed and therefore was unable to stick to the plan. I swear, the waking mind is the worst procrastinator. I would know, I'm an expert.

Yesterday evening I decided to try a different approach. I set the timer on my lovely Mr. Coffee for 5:15am. Then, when my alarm went off at 5:20am, I knew that I already had fresh coffee waiting for me. I also knew that if I snoozed around the coffee would end up burning and I sincerely despise the taste of burnt coffee. Needless to say, it motivated me.

So, at 5:23 in the morning I was finally out of bed, drinking fresh coffee and still considering driving my car in stead of taking the bus. I worried about the Muffin morning timeline, something I had not considered before. I also worried about exercise timeline - would I have enough time in the afternoon to get in a workout? I think that all of these worries stemmed from a basic fear of losing control over my transportation. Finally, I committed. I would ride the ding-dang bus today. Dammit.


After that decision, it went pretty smoothly. Muffin was not eager to get out of bed, but she did it anyway. At one point she stubbed her toe and, already sleepy to begin with, began to cry. After that boo-boo was taken care of we were ready to go.

Once in the car, Muffin perked up considerably. By the time we reached her pre-school she was in much better spirits and I made it to the park-and-ride lot with about ten minutes to spare! The bus was on time and the fellow riders were very friendly. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the cars below me slow to a standstill while our bus rushed onto the HOV lane. Ha HAH!



I was the last person to get off the bus and even with a 40 minute ride, I still made it to work almost an hour before I normally would have. I have been converted. Instead of making myself ride the bus three days a week I'm going to find a way to ride every day. Sure, I may have given up some freedom but I find that I've obtained a little sanity in return.