Journal!!!!

Like millions of people in the world I can’t afford a car. So in order to meet my transportation needs, I take the bus. People always ask, “Why do you take the bus? You’ll be shanked.” Or they make inane comments such as, “Honestly the bus is disgusting. You NEED a car.” My response? Nothing. Nothing at all. Not many people are open to trying new things. As a junior in high school going to my senior year with a new job, I decided to take the bus from school, to home, to work, and back home again. My high school wasn’t all too prestigious. It was private schooling yes, but it wasn’t competitive or rigourous (unless you took AP classes like I did). But, and this is a big BUT, there was an overwhelming sense of materialism. With this mateialistic view, the one way you could be deemed as cool or hip is if you owned a very nice car. And there were some who did. Everyday at lunch I would walk through the parking lot and watch as girls and guys unlocked their cars and sped away to eat lunch with other friends. To them, senior year meant getting out of class early, getting into their fabulous new car, and hanging out till sunset. That wasn’t the case for me. I lived far away from my school, so every day I would walk the parking lot, go across the street and wait ten minutes for the 47A bus to arrive. After a thirty minute bus ride I would be dropped off at another stop and wait another ten minutes for the 54 bus to take me home. I’d finish my homework, eat, and leave the house for work. I had to take the 54 bus again. And that was the routine thoughout my last year of high school. Today I still take the 54, only this time its to get to my college campus and work because both are on the same street. I still get the not so subtle comments such as “unsanitary,” “you.get.car.NOW.” and my favorite: “Ew.”