City Life

Sometimes I’m surprised that I ended up living in a city.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love public transportation.  I love NOT having a car.  Selling my Ford Taurus that I practically lived in for two years was arguably one of the most satisfying days of my life.  I love all the food variations and free museums.   I love the motorcades that interrupt traffic downtown.  I love walking by the White House and wondering what President Obama is doing at that exact moment. I love that we can wander around downtown and find something interesting to do.   

But, sometimes, I find myself missing the quaintness and feeling of small-town life.  And on those days, I’m reminded of Carrie Bradshaw (Sex in the City, guys….) walking down the streets of Manhattan when she gets shouldered by a guy rushing past in a suit.  To whom she conspicuously yells:  “Oh, you’re SOO busy.  YOU’RE SOOOOOOOO BUSY!” 

Every once in a while, I feel like yelling that. 

I suppose I haven’t gotten so far as to actually scream at someone on the street, but I do find myself getting a bit lost in the anonymity of city life where nobody knows anyone walking down the street, people bump into you without apologizing, and cars that honk incessantly at someone who hesitates the slightest bit at a green light.  So I find myself savoring the moments when people hold doors open for others or say “god bless you” after someone sneezes or say good morning to a stranger.  I kinda like that. 

And this morning, I liked the guy at the bus stop.  Now, I’ll admit, this will shock many of you: I don’t lose my wallet anymore.  I bring my metro card and pass to work every day.  And I don’t ever put my credit card in my jeans pocket and lose it anymore.  I’m practically all grown up!  So this morning, I was quite surprised when I realized that my metro card was in my other coat pocket.  The bus pulls up, and there I am, frantically searching through my bag for my pass, and obviously not getting on the bus.  The guy waves me over, and I tell the bus driver that I don’t have my pass.  He says, “Don’t worry about it for now, unless you need it later or something.”  He lets me get on the bus without paying.  Man, that was nice.  And it was a great way to start my day. 

So I guess maybe it's not so much a town/city problem.  Maybe it's just a matter of people paying a little more attention to life as it flies past us.  I know that I'm not always very good at that.  But now, since I owe the world a favor for my free bus ride, I'm gonna have to up the ante.  (Is that even how you spell that?) Now I have to find a way to do something really nice for a stranger.  I'll keep you all posted.