We be Wee People; who be you?

Growing up as a short kid, I got picked on a lot. It's something you learn to live with. As a youth, I still got good humored teasing about being short. (The non-good humor teasing took a completely different tack.) As a middle-aged man (I have a hard time seeing myself as "middle-aged," but there it is...) there is still the occasional look-at-me-aren't-I-funny-messing-with-Steve moments. Generally, I just roll my eyes and move along with life.

So, I come into work today and find a big plastic pot of gold (not the chocolate kind either, bah!) on my desk. Stuck in the pot is a big sign reading "World's Greatest Leprechaun!" with my picture in the middle. (It doesn't help that my ears are slightly pointy.) Everyone found it extremely funny and waited to see how I would react. I put the pot (sign and all) on the cubical divider so everyone passing by could see and sat down to start my day at work. I think it was a bit anti-climatic for some. Ah well...I fully embrace my quirks.

Now for some background (this is a story I told in a team meeting several weeks ago): I ride the bus every day to and from work. Every once in awhile you meet some...interesting...people. So one morning I was at the bus stop when a fellow walks up obviously intoxicated. He starts asking me random questions and I respond politely. Generally I ignore people like that, but this guy was inoffensive and was actually somewhat entertaining. Finally, the bus pulls up and this fellow starts digging through his pockets and says, "Now I gotta come up with a dollar to get on the bus."

I happened to have a dollar coin in my pocket and, feeling unusally maganimous, I flip it over to him and say, "Here you go!" He catches it, looks at it, back at me, and breaks into a big ol' smile. He then says, "You're my best friend ever! You must be a leprechaun - you gave me gold!" As we got on the bus, he proceeded to tell everyone there that I was a leprechaun. It was an interesting bus ride.

There's a New Hero in Town

Look! On that bus! It's a boy! No! He's wearing a tie - it's a man! It's "Super Bus Boy" Man!

That's right, folks!

Starting in the month of June, I will be riding the bus every day to and from work. Why? Have you ever actually sat down and figured out what it costs to drive every day? Just for giggles and grins, check this little commute calculator out:

http://www.mycommute.org/site/options/calculator

So, let's see...$1700+ annually to drive or $396 annually to ride the bus...

My work place sells monthly bus passes at a discount, so I save even more (ends up being $366/year). Not only that, I contacted my auto insurance company and told them I wouldn't be driving as much and got a little over $100 off my annual bill...not much, but it all adds up.

It's not just economics either. I'm not a die-hard environmentalist, but probably much more than your typical white, christian, Republican male. There is a certain amount of hypocrisy in American culture - especially when it comes to environmental issues. I'll just do my part and let everyone else worry about themselves.

But what about the actual experience of riding the bus? The bus stops are a block from my home and a block from work - it doesn't get much better than that. The mornings are great, I catch the very first bus run (5:50AM), so it is usually empty or nearly so. The afternoons...? Well, I get off work at 3PM so the buses are usually hot and crowded with punk kids and a general mass of unhappy people. Still, it's nothing that "Super Bus Boy" Man can't handle!