lessons of the bus

I got on the wrong bus today. Those of you who have labeled me the transit guru are probably laughing uncontrollably right now! Laugh it up!

I got to my second bus stop of the morning and I was so engrossed in my book (The 6th Lamentation by William Broderick – a MUST read!) that when the bus stopped, I didn’t even look at which one it was. I just got on.

After I was on and we started moving, I had the fleeting thought, “Did I get on the right bus? I’ve never seen this driver before.” Sure enough, a couple stops up he turned when he shouldn’t have. Dang.

I pulled the cord for the next stop, J-walked across the road (bad erin) and found the next correct bus stop and waited. After a few minutes of waiting I thought, “Maybe I missed the right bus when I got on the wrong one. I’m in the 4800 block and I only have to go to 4585, maybe I should just walk.”

After I’d walked half a block and was waiting to cross the street Murphy’s Law kicked in and the right bus went screaming by. Arg. I waited far too long to cross at a Y intersection and when I finally did, I realized that these were not normal length blocks. This just keeps getting better and better! I should have just waited!

So I picked up the pace realizing I wasn’t going to make it by 9 if I didn’t hoof it to the next stop in time to catch the next bus. Unfortunately, the next bus stop was far enough away I couldn’t even see it yet.

“Please don’t let the bus get there before me. Please don’t let the bus get there before me. Please don’t let the bus get there before me.” I chanted as I jog/walked around the curve. Yes! There it was and there was still someone there. Good sign.

When I got there I asked the lone waiter, “Do you know what time the next bus comes?”

“8:53 and it’s 8:51 now.”

Perfect. “Thanks.” Maybe I could still make it. 8:53 came and went. 8:54. 8:55. 8:56. Finally, I could see the bus. And it was the right one this time!

In the end, I made it to work by about 9:01 so all was well. But I couldn’t help but wonder what God might be trying to say to me this gray and drizzly Monday morning.

A thought passed through the vast expanse between my ears.“You got to work on time and that’s good but if you would have just paid attention and been patient things would have been significantly easier and better for you.”

Hmm. How many other parts of my life does that apply to…