The Good Days
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Now that I have freedom to travel beyond the train tracks again, I want to loosely summarize my public transportation experience. I know you are probably tired of hearing about this, but hey, I've got a blog to write. After this hopefully I can think of other things to write about on here (like how awesome my jeep is, or how much the ladies love the jeep). I will sum up this fine time of my life by sharing some things that stood out to me.
(I have been asked several times about owning a jeep, with no doors or top, and a motorcycle. They usually begin the questions with a reminder that both vehicles are broken, “impractical”, and rather old, and the questions are usually based around whether I actually have a job or why I don’t just sell the toys and buy something that is practical/reliable/boring. I don’t have great answers for these questions but I am planning on selling the motorcycle if anyone is interested, and my next post may be focused on my job for those conspiracy theorists out there. It is worth mentioning that I have enjoyed a good bit of this process as well.)
So here are some highlights as I remember them:
1. The already well documented meeting with Kevin has to come in first. I have to admit that my emotions are split between grateful and disappointed in not ever seeing Kevin again after hiding from him.
2. Ticket Evasion -$75, also mentioned earlier. This was a bother, but good that it only happened once.
3. I will sum this one up as the various times that I missed the bus/dart rail/train, or after making it on, eventually missing my stop.
- This category is highlighted by the time I thought I missed my stop on the dart rail and jumped off at the stop before my destination. This lead to me taking the next dart in the opposite direction only to realize I had not actually passed it yet, resulting in me having to wait another 20 minutes to catch the next dart back to my original destination.
- Another time I missed the bus to the train station after work and decided to just walk to it thinking that would be faster than waiting for the next bus. An hour and a half later and still not in view of the station I decided it was a bad idea, mainly because I didn’t actually know how to get there, but also because it was several miles further than expected.
- Also it is worth mentioning the times that I missed the train because those only come hourly.
- The times when I had to get off at the wrong stop to use the nearest restroom also caused confusion occasionally.
- I did, in fact, eventually become very crafty with the public transportation, but even on the second to last day I had trouble. It began in the morning when I didn’t have any cash on me (no stores along the walk are open in the morning to use an ATM), so I gathered up all the change from around the apartment thinking it was easily over $5. This made me late to the dart stop and I literally had to run to catch it. Since I didn’t have time to buy a ticket I was just planning on buying the all encompassing day pass when I reached the train station. Ever since I had to pay the fine I have been extra careful to not let that happen again, so I was always buying the tickets and on the lookout for ticket officers when I couldn’t. Naturally, on this morning they were in full effect. When we reached the stop right before the train station I spotted them and jumped off before they got on. Now I had to either wait for the next dart, which would cause me to miss the train, or I could try and walk there. I began to walk along the track thinking I could just follow it to the station, but I didn’t account for the tunnel. Since the tunnel was only large enough for the dart rail itself, I would be risking my life if one came in the other direction, plus it was real dark in there. So now I have to walk a couple blocks around and try to find where it comes out the other side, and by this time I am jogging and losing change through the hole in my pocket (while jogging and hopping the occasional fence a cop pulled over and questioned me, like I was running from the law or something). I did eventually catch the train before takeoff and traded all my change for a $5 bill with the conductor to buy a ticket from the machine. That evening on the way home I was desperate for some cash to buy my next morning ticket when I got off at my stop and walked to the nearest ATM machine. This for some reason got me completely off track and I ended up walking around the village looking for The Meadows for over two hours. I even talked with an old Dallas native during my walk, but sorry Drew, you were not very helpful.
4. The time there was a WWE wrestling event at the American Airlines Center and the train was standing room only with nothing but Hispanics and white trash hooligans. I probably can’t communicate why this was so entertaining. I don’t think any of us regulars knew what was happening but we were all taken back by the amount of energy on the train. I was listening to these people interact and was getting completely pumped about wrestling. (This brings to mind an important note: Most of what made the public transportation so entertaining was the people-watching and eavesdropping that was taking place. I have been trained well in these arts by my Mom. On countless occasions throughout my youth our family would be out to dinner or something and my Mom would start laughing, or get a concerned look on her face for no apparent reason. She would then take it upon herself to explain to us what was going on at another table nearby. At the beginning, I will admit I was a little embarrassed by this, but overtime I have learned how amusing it can be. I have also recently learned that eavesdropping is not all that rare and that my Mom is not the only one that does this regularly. Kendal and I were out with Meg, Jax, and Arlene the other day and believe it or not they were pulling the same stunt. Apparently I was a little hard on my Mom back then because these girls acted like it was some sort of obligation to know what was going on at all the tables around them. They would be in deep conversation one second and then practically on the floor laughing the next, with what seemed to be no good reason. Finally, they bashfully explained that the ladies behind us were telling some awesome stories. I guess what they were really saying is that they were not very intrigued by our stories. The way this relates though, is that as I have learned to spy on the people around me when I am not distracted but I still lack the skill of an average woman to be able to carry on a conversation while spying on everyone else in the near vicinity.)
- The most exasperating passenger experiences were either with the crying babies or the time that I got stuck sitting next to a middle-aged woman who was looking at pictures of birds and listening to them on her walkman the entire hour and fifteen minute train ride. It was as if I was sharing the headphones with her, it was so ridiculously loud and annoying. I read the same paragraph of my book over and over again without ever actually comprehending it, but I did pick up on a color-to-singing correlation between bird species.
During all this time it really bonded our group working out here. It was a daily theme to ask me what happened on the ride and for a jeep update. They would gather around and tell jokes at my expense, which was enjoyable of course. Turns out that when I actually got the jeep back, half of them didn’t know the jeep actually existed and thought I was making the whole thing up.
Labels: ben
posted by benbox @ 9:32 AM,
3 Comments:
this makes my day box...reading your life experiences that make me laugh at your expense. sorry, but i gotta be honest. keep em coming please.
Posted by
Kate | Mar 1, 2007, 8:08:00 AM
so glad i was able to teach you some of my listening skills along the way, ben. life is so much more fun when you eves drop!
Posted by
mom
| Mar 9, 2007, 4:34:00 PM
i promise this was not because your stories weren't interesting but simply because they were being SO loud and SO ridiculous!!
Posted by | May 17, 2007, 4:52:00 PM
The Authors
Kendal Haug
Kendal is a graduate of the University of Texas in Austin and most recently earned his Masters in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. He works for Bible.org and likes to think he knows how to play the guitar. His man-crushes include, but are not limited to: Ryan Adams, Donald Miller, Ray LaMontagne, Neil Young, Vince Young, and of course The Box.
Ben Box
Box, is a recent graduate of Texas A&M University and currently works for Medco Construction building hospitals and being important. Ben loves paying lots of money on broken down Jeeps and has a propensity for getting Kendal into trouble.
About This Blog
This is a multi-author blog devoted to the happenings of two bachelors living it up in Big D. We will record the daily nonsense that occurs when 2 life-long friends live together in the same apartment and have no shame, sense of fashion, or chance of meeting a girl in the next 10 years.
A Word on Comments
Ben and Kendal both highly encourage your comments. They look forward to hearing your thoughts and insights. No matter how harsh the criticism or if you just want to give them a good ole pat on the back and say "Way to Go!" or "Ha! That was a funny story!" or "That Ben sure does crack me up." And if you have a request of something you would like to see Ben and Kendal do or write about, let them know.
Disclaimer
Ben and Kendal are in no way responsible for stories that may worry, upset, or lead their parents to altogether disown them.
