So, yeah, on Friday I managed to get myself to work on the bus and then from work to the wedding reception, and then kind friends drove me home from the reception, with a detour to Zuppas for post-reception soup and tomfoolery. If you knew just how much I long for simplicity and isolation on Fridays after work, this feat would be impressive to you, for I not only engaged in multiple social events that night, I took the bus! Where's my trophy?
The UTA bit was great, no complaints. But from the last UTA stop I had planned to use the University of Utah shuttle system to get within easy walking distance of the reception, which was at the U's Red Butte Gardens Orangerie. The U has a fancy website for its shuttles that shows you the names of all the routes, when/where they stop, what hours they run, and even shows you in real time where each shuttle is on its route. So I wrote down my option (the Gold line), got off at the right stop, and waited.
I don't have a smart phone, so I was relying on what the website had told me about shuttle arrival times. The Blue line shuttle showed up, but I let it go by because I knew the Gold line was coming and it would get me close to my destination. But ten minutes after the Gold line shuttle was supposed to arrive it still hadn't come. So I followed the instructions on the shuttle sign at the stop and texted their system for info on the next shuttle arriving at that stop. Twice it told me there were no shuttles enroute--not for any of the various lines. I took that to mean that I'd misread the shuttle schedule and that there would be no help for me from the shuttle service, so I hiked up my maxi dress and started my hike up the hill, only to have a Gold line shuttle pass me two minutes later. Grrrr. Big FAIL on your fancy shuttle tracking technology, U of U. The walk wasn't bad, and it was pretty good exercise, which one needs after a day sitting at a desk, but I was miffed because I'd wanted to learn about the U's shuttle system, but was failed by flashy but useless technology. I'd wanted to prove that, like Tarzan, I could transfer effortlessly from figurative vine to figurative vine in my journey through the figurative tree tops and prove myself the figurative monarch of my urban jungle, but instead found myself figuratively bushwhacking down on the figurative jungle floor being figuratively bitten by figurative tropical fire ants. And as much as I love hiking, I didn't enjoy showing up for the fancy reception with a bit more glow than I'd wanted (that's where the fire ants come in). But after retreating into the Red Butte bathrooms to change into the nice dress and shoes I'd been hauling around in my backpack and to engage in some basic primping, I looked pretty good and felt good as well. I stashed my backpack behind a large potted plant and after some chatting with friends and congratulating the couple and drinking an Italian soda and eating a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich I retreated alone into the beautiful gardens and came back just in time to beg the last of my departing friends to drop me off close to my house. This led to an invitation to join them at dinner, which means, you will note, that my decision to take the bus to the reception rather than drive to the reception resulted in one of my rare voluntary Friday night social excursions. I was socially exhausted by the end of the night, but had some fun memories to show for it, as well as the knowledge that God was pleased with my valiant stab at fake extroversion--which thing would not have happened but for the humility that carlessness (and shuttle carelessness) sometimes forces upon one. Which humility is good to experience, now and then, especially for those of us who have the option of driving everywhere.
As for the rest of the Memorial Day weekend, I'd invited my niece up for a sleepover Sunday night and a play day on Monday, and had planned to take her back to Sandy on TRAX when the fun was over. But I had forgotten: UTA doesn't think that people need public transit on holidays. That's because the people running UTA are like me: they own cars and when they ride public transit, it's to feel warm and fuzzy and socially responsible and maybe get some work done during their commute. But there are people who rely on public transit for their lives to function. They can't afford to buy a car, or can't afford to both drive their cars regularly and feed their families. And guess what, UTA? These tend to be the people who are forced to work on holidays, while the rest of us play. They're the ones running the retail shops where you get your Memorial Day bargains and the gas stations where you fill up your Bimmer. And they need the buses to run so they can get to their jobs and sell you cheap junk you no longer have space for. So do yourselves a favor, and let them get to their jobs on the holidays. It was no big deal to me and my niece, because I have a car and the option to drive it without breaking the bank. But it's a big deal to others. Also, we can't complain that people keep driving and polluting our valley air if our public transit system is not comprehensive enough to make relying on it for daily transportation a reasonable prospect. Once a person has spent the considerable amount of money to buy and service and insure a car (because he knows the buses don't run on holidays and mostly don't run on Sundays and only sorta run on Saturdays), you can't be surprised when he chooses to drive it more and more often--because it's way more convenient than a bad bus system, and the cost of car ownership usually doesn't make sense if you're only going to use your car when the buses aren't running. And of course once you've decided you need a car to fill in the public transit gaps, you note that the bus fares for most trips are more expensive than gas for the car, so where exactly is the incentive to transition to bus riding? If people could get where they needed on the buses every day of the year, then they could dispense with the cost of buying and insuring and maintaining a car and at THAT point being a regular bus rider would make sense financially, even with the current high fares.
Rant over.
Post over.
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