Riding the City Bus

I have taken to riding the city bus, occasionally, to COCC and back home to Redmond. What propelled this insane decision? Three things; it's cheaper, it's easier when the roads are ice packed and it helps me with my tolerance.

Since I work in the Multicultural Department at COCC I am, to a certain extent, an example of kindness and tolerance and acceptance. However, there are many times I do not want to be kind or tolerant or accepting. I would never, under any circumstances, express this attitude, but sometimes I fear that what I am thinking I might say. Sometimes the filter in my brain is not very efficient. Sometimes I just don't like people and I am afraid of what might come out of my mouth.

So my plan is to ride the bus as often as the roads are icy and work on my tolerance in my mind, not just through my words. In other words, I want to not only say tolerant, kind, accepting things, I want to think them.

So far I've ridden the bus a grand total of five hours and I'm beginning to wish I had a permit for a concealed weapon.

I have discovered that I am not a kind, tolerant individual. As a matter of fact, there have been a few brief moments where I've had to sit on my hands so I did not reach up and slap someone.

For example, a rather heavy young woman sat down in front of me with her five year old son yesterday. The first thing he says when he gets on the bus, to the African American man sitting behind me is "Mommy, I'm not sitting by a Mexican Black." This was the first time I wanted to slap someone.

Then the mother opens her mouth and announces to the bus that "he ain't known anyone but bad men in his life so that's why he's that way."This was the second time I wanted to slap someone and not just for saying "ain't."

Through the fifteen minute bus ride (which felt like fifteen hours) the mom tells the audience on the bus that she just moved here from Texas and she needs to get to the jail to vist her boyfriend. Then she tells her son, who is swinging from the metal bars of the bus, that if "he don't sit down right now I'm gonna leave you in jail." He ignores her. So then she says "you don't get your butt down here I'm taking my welfare money and buying me a present and not you." He still ignores her. She then says "as soon as we get off the bus I'm gonna whip your butt and all these people on the bus gonna laugh at you."

The first time I rode the bus I saw that everyone had their ipods or itunes or i-somethings plugged in. I thougth that was rude, after all, I was hoping to make my bus ride into a case study of the human race and I needed to talk to people. Now I know why.

All the logic in my brain knows why this woman is this way. And that same logic tells me that that six  year old was going to end up in jail eventually, probably in a cell next to one of his momma's many boyfriends. This did not help my "mind tolerance."

I was not doing well in this social experiment. I was looking up and down trying to figure out if I could get a window open enough to escape. I was not at all empathetic to her plight. In fact, if the state of Oregon offered me $10,000 per month to foster this child, I would not.

Finally she and her wild child exited the bus. I swear there was a collective sigh of relief (especially from the African American man behind me.)

I got off at the next exit, which was not mine, and walked a mile and a half to COCC.

I needed to clear my mind.

I needed to work on my mind tolerance.

Will I ride the bus again? Yes, because obviously five hours is not going to cut it. Five hours is not enough for a person like myself to show kindness to all human beings. John Trudell said once that we are all of the tribe of human beings. I like that.

But I don't want her in my tribe.