What you miss when you drive
I'm from the Motor City, so I guess I shouldn't disparage driving entirely. Actually, in many places (such as Detroit, and I hear, LA) it's a necessity. But I find that taking public transit, and just plain walking, present me with some very interesting, and often wonderful, encounters.
Such as the visitors to the San Francisco Bay Area (where I currently live) from New York, who wanted to know, as we rode the commuter train across the bay, where I got my lavender sprig. "They were giving them out in church today in honor of Earth Day," I answered. They were pleasantly surprised that a church would honor Earth Day, and started chatting with me about their religious background. When one of them commented that she wasn't sure if God existed, I said, "Well, what if that's not the question. What if the question is, where do you find God?" Off the top of her head, she said in a newborn baby. She seemed delighted with that way of looking at it. I like to think we all left that experience thinking a little differently about where we encounter the divine. (For me, on BART, apparently!)
Then there are the truly strange interactions. I was walking home from my MA graduation (a lovely 6-1/2 mile walk, and it was a beautiful day), and, when I ran into a man exiting a building I smiled and nodded (as is my custom). He said hi, and I said, "How ya doin'?" thinking that would be the end of our exchange, but open to more. "Better than most!" he replied, then added, "Nobody's shootin' at me!" "That's a good thing!" I threw out, trying to mask my bemusement. "I can breathe easy!" he said as he climbed into his car, and I laughed, "Have a nice day!"
I had a notebook with me, so I quickly sat down to record the incident: I had never realized, until that very moment, that most people are being shot at!
See what you miss if you drive?
Such as the visitors to the San Francisco Bay Area (where I currently live) from New York, who wanted to know, as we rode the commuter train across the bay, where I got my lavender sprig. "They were giving them out in church today in honor of Earth Day," I answered. They were pleasantly surprised that a church would honor Earth Day, and started chatting with me about their religious background. When one of them commented that she wasn't sure if God existed, I said, "Well, what if that's not the question. What if the question is, where do you find God?" Off the top of her head, she said in a newborn baby. She seemed delighted with that way of looking at it. I like to think we all left that experience thinking a little differently about where we encounter the divine. (For me, on BART, apparently!)
Then there are the truly strange interactions. I was walking home from my MA graduation (a lovely 6-1/2 mile walk, and it was a beautiful day), and, when I ran into a man exiting a building I smiled and nodded (as is my custom). He said hi, and I said, "How ya doin'?" thinking that would be the end of our exchange, but open to more. "Better than most!" he replied, then added, "Nobody's shootin' at me!" "That's a good thing!" I threw out, trying to mask my bemusement. "I can breathe easy!" he said as he climbed into his car, and I laughed, "Have a nice day!"
I had a notebook with me, so I quickly sat down to record the incident: I had never realized, until that very moment, that most people are being shot at!
See what you miss if you drive?
