Carless in Austin

The day I totaled my car was a blur of rain and pain. I remember a few distinct things that most people shouldn't. Maybe I was in shock..I don't know. Justin Timberlake was on the radio, his famous "Suit and Tie" song. The collision was loud. My air bag had deployed and out popped my shoulder from it's nicely fitting socket. Besides that, my leg was hurting a little, but seemed workable. The man who I hit was PISSED. He wanted nothing but for me to pay for what I had done, and all I could manage was a desperate call for help.

Turns out, it wasn't just a dislocated shoulder, but a broken collar bone on the opposite shoulder. They say bad things happen in three's..and after my life has gone for the past year, I have to say that I believe it. Left without a car, here I sit relying on the Austin Metro system and some awesome friends for assistance.

Remnants of the best car I've ever had

Basically, until recently anyhow (more on that later), it's really easy to feel paranoid and afraid when all you have to rely on is public transportation. Why? Because all types of crazies ride the city bus along with you! That doesn't go to say that the city bus isn't also capitulated with normal people every now and then..here's a scenario just for the fun:

Man walks on the bus. Oh! He has a grocery basket with him. What is it filled with?? Nothing but crap. This man plops himself on a seat and immediately looks at the man sitting next to him and shouts "Hey! What time is it?" The man, a little bewildered by the question shifts a little uncomfortably and says "Uh..3:34" The man with the grocery basket throws his hands in the air and says "It's not happy hour yet, damn it!" 

Scenarios such as this happen on the daily..sometimes worse.
While these scenarios trouble and disturb, there are the more inspirational and eye opening moments as well.
A bewildered looking older woman wearing a wind breaker in 105 degree heat stumbles onto the bus and sits down. She turns to the young looking guy sitting near her and cries about the water bottle she left at home. "All I needed was my water bottle, but I couldn't miss the bus". What's sweet to me is that we've all seen this before. The signs that the homeless carry around "ANYTHING HELPS" and we try our best to help, but the fact is that our hard earned cash will most likely go to drugs or alcohol..but this boy pulls out $2 for this poor old woman without even thinking about it. And the best part is that at her stop she did hobble over to the gas station and buy herself some water.
If only..