SF Muni Travel Tales

I went to work this morning back to the old route.  The past two weeks I had been walking to work and had not taken the bus.  This morning I was running behind and I had two dollars in my pocket so I decided why not. I got on the bus and the usual driver was there and she told me, " Hey where you been?"  she went on to tell me she hadn't seen me for awhile and wondered what had happened to me.

I was taken aback because we really hadn't had much interactions, but I always say good morning to her and say thank you when I get off the bus.  I told her I had been off from work and went to sit in my seat in the back of the bus, the one I always sit at.  At the next stop the guy who always gets on this stop got on and said " Hey where you been?" again,  I thought what's going on.  I told him oh I had been off work, he said he missed me too. When I got off the bus everyone said, bye have a good day and I returned the salutation.

I was thinking about this and got a warm fuzzy feeling, because I have often thought about when people die I know that their love ones miss them, but what about the people you randomly see every day are they afected by your mysterious disappearance.  I did not have to die to find out, yea they do.  It's the little things you do everyday that make an impact of some sort.  I believe even if you are that grumpy guy who comes in for coffee at Starbucks every morning you are gonna be missed when you stop showing up. 

So that means I have to show up, and when I show up I shouldn't be grumpy I should be happy and cheerful because obviously just a good morning to a bus driver and a smile to a fellow passenger really makes a difference. Imagine the difference you could make by saying good morning to your bus driver, and smiling to your fellow passengers.  Say nice things to your janitors at your work place or the kids who serve your coffee.  Even to the homeless guy, he is important too, because as my journey continued this morning I met a homeless gentleman.

He was at my third and last bus stop. I was cold and he asked me, "where's your jacket".  I said, " this is it". He said, " you don't have a jacket"? I said "no", then he said, " maybe it was warm in your house and you stepped out into the cold to fast".  I looked at him and thought, wow, here you are worried about me and I know you slept in the street.  I didn't ignore him I started to talking to him and then we got to laughing and he was a pretty funny guy.  He had a lot of ideas about work, his main one was that work was only invented to keep folks sober, because if you didn't work you would probably be drinking all day long and just getting into trouble. I found a lot of logic in that.  He also said that we should not look at smoking as a negative.  Here is his point.  Smoking kills many people, but how many does it save?  I said I don't know, he went on to tell me that how many times have people decided against doing something wrong when they go outside for a cigarette instead.  I was having such a good time chatting it up with him, I missed my bus and he ran across the street to stop it and made the driver wait for me. 

I thanked him and got on the bus, thanked the driver and sat down.  I thought I was feeling pretty crappy this morning and everyone helped me see things differently.  I learned that I'm appreciated even by strangers and they genuinely cared what happened to me.  We really have to stop wallowing in self pity and thinking the world is against us, we go about our lives with our earphones on or participating in it through cyberspace.  Liking this, disliking that.  Voyeristically participating in our friends lives via facebook, but not seeing them or interacting with them. I learned a lot this morning and I want to be present everyday from now on. 

Meditation teaches us that we need to silence the voices in our head to see what is really happening in front of us and I believe it.  We should also leave our headphones at home so we can hear and see what the world is saying to us and see what's really happening,  You are happening, every day, every hour.  Someone is listening and responding to you.  So be aware, be you, and be kind, because a small kindness goes a long way.