I stayed at work much later than the normal folks. One of the security officers came by when he noticed the light on and asked when I'd plan on leaving. I told him I'd probably take a cab to the train station since the shuttle had stopped running for the evening. He offered to give me a ride when I was ready and I took him up on it. My brother would not be happy with me because this was a man I'd only waved to twice before and now I was riding in a car with him. I was so tired that I didn't even text his name, make, model and license plate number of his car to friends, as I've done at least three times in the past. David, I made it safely and thanked him profusely for saving me the $10 cab fare.
When we arrived at the train station, there was a bus idling. I wasn't sure what route it took, but knew that it would get me home faster than the 90-minute train ride. In a snap, I decided to pay the extra $3.50 fare and jumped on board. This is where the adventure begins...
I asked the driver if she went directly into Boston or if she stopped along the route. With what sounded like a little attitude, she asked me if I'd ever ridden the route. I thought, "that's not what I asked you". But I was tired so i just sat my fat ass down. Again I asked if she went directly into Boston and she told me where the route ended. So off we went. Within three minutes, I discovered why she didn't answer. This was the first time she'd ever driven the route and she DIDN'T KNOW the route!!! She was hoping that I'd be able to help her navigate. When she missed the exit from the MassPike, I showed her a suggested route from the GPS on my phone. For a moment I thought, "Since you don't know the route, why not just use my GPS to get me home since I'm the only passenger on here." But then I realized it wasn't all about me. What about other passengers that might be waiting along this "mystery'' route. Then all of a sudden, something looked familiar to me. So I told her where to turn, and lo and behold, there was a passenger waiting at the stop!
The passenger that got on didn't know how to use the fare machine. More importantly, she couldn't even identify what coins she had in her hand! Mind you, she was completely sighted. Figuring that the driver had her own issues to deal with, I got up and helped the young lady pay the fare and pointed out that the coins were quarters. She had bills in her hand and, in Mami-style, told her to put the money away.
I noticed that she was not a native English speaker, so I asked her where she was from originally. She asked me to guess, and somehow I did correctly. You'd think I told her she'd won the lottery when I shared two phrases Papi taught us us after his year in Korea 40 years ago. As usual, I got the juice in less than 15 minutes: She arrived three days previous for a three-month stay to learn English. She was heading into Boston to meet a colleague. She wasn't familiar with the MBTA, didn't know it doesn't run all night like NYC and didn't know how to find the Boston Common once we got off the bus.
Those of you that know me, know how the story ends. When we got off the bus, I walked with her to the Common, made sure she found her friend, showed her the entrance to Park Street station where I suggested she get bus schedules and add money to the Charlie Card without everyone seeing how much cash she had. I gave her my card and told her to call if she needed anything. She hugged and thanked me about 12 times and asked how much longer it would take for me to get home. I fibbed and said it would be about 10 minutes. In the end, the entire commute was almost two hours.
How a ride turned in an opportunity to pay it forward = why I ride...
I noticed that she was not a native English speaker, so I asked her where she was from originally. She asked me to guess, and somehow I did correctly. You'd think I told her she'd won the lottery when I shared two phrases Papi taught us us after his year in Korea 40 years ago. As usual, I got the juice in less than 15 minutes: She arrived three days previous for a three-month stay to learn English. She was heading into Boston to meet a colleague. She wasn't familiar with the MBTA, didn't know it doesn't run all night like NYC and didn't know how to find the Boston Common once we got off the bus.
Those of you that know me, know how the story ends. When we got off the bus, I walked with her to the Common, made sure she found her friend, showed her the entrance to Park Street station where I suggested she get bus schedules and add money to the Charlie Card without everyone seeing how much cash she had. I gave her my card and told her to call if she needed anything. She hugged and thanked me about 12 times and asked how much longer it would take for me to get home. I fibbed and said it would be about 10 minutes. In the end, the entire commute was almost two hours.
How a ride turned in an opportunity to pay it forward = why I ride...
