Thursday, August 13, 2009

Adventure Day 24 – City Life…

Wednesday held mostly a sleepless hangover from the 13 hour night (turned into day) shift I was on the previous day. In the afternoon I had to take the bus (which I haven’t taken in a few months) to work for a mere 3 hours and came home with a pounding headache and a desire to sleep. Work went very well and I enjoyed it but when I went to wait for the bus I was a bit early and when it finally came (20 minutes later) the sprinkle that had started halfway through my wait had turned into a steady rain by the time my bus came – I actually wouldn’t have minded if I hadn’t had that headache, oh well, I’m hear to tell the story!

Taking the bus again quickly reminded me of how much my life has changed and how much I have learned since moving to a city. I thought I would share some of my learnings with you…

One of the first things I had to learn was how to take the bus. Did you know that there are rules? Like don’t sit in the front, unless you are old, handicapped, pregnant, have kids or an ignorant student.

Know when to put the bell thing – too early or too late you’ll get dropped off at the wrong place.

If you are waiting at the college for a bus, be aggressive and make sure you are one of the first ones on to get a seat and a ride home.

Don’t make eye contact. Apparently people aren’t there to socialize. (Yeah, this one has a hard one for me to grasp – it seems so rude that people are always wearing their ear buds).

Many people don’t care if you hear every word of their conversation on the phone (really, did I need to hear all about your illegal activities on the weekend?)

People that read their book by the exit are annoying (and to me they’re just showing off, who can possibly read standing up on a crowded bus?)

I am seriously annoyed by people that will stand rather than sit when there are several seats available – hello, get out of the way!!

It’s always handy to know where the bus you are on is going, and where you should get off.

Other things I’ve learned since moving to the city:

If there is a left hand turn light you should always turn on it, no matter what colour it is. At least 2-3 more cars will take the left turn after the light’s gone red, feel free to try.

City people like Starbucks more than Tim Horton’s

It’s harder to find good little non-chain restaurants.

Chances are usually pretty low that you will meet someone you know at the supermarket.

Cities have more than one library.

Cities have more than one park.

Going to a mall across town instead of the one you live near seems to be a big deal to city people.

Cows are a big deal. Some people have never seen them before (in real life – weird!!)

One thing I have learned from going back to school is that when you go to the bathroom you are supposed to ask everyone within a 12 foot radius of you to join. Refusing an invite could result in strange looks and strong thoughts on your anti social bathroom behaviour (who knew going to the john was a group activity?)

A Conclusion to Adventure Day 22

I’ve had a great question from a reader and in case you all don’t read the comments I respond to, I thought it might be a good idea to give a better conclusion to my Adventure Day 22 about my coffee time with the person I thought I wouldn’t like.

In the end I spent a good 2 hour visit with Lady. The experience was great for me. It really did help me understand better where she’s coming from and who she is. Does it mean we will be best friends? No. But it has definitely taught me that there really isn’t anything that scary about going out for coffee with someone you aren’t too sure if you will like. In fact I think if you are the judgmental type like me it’s essential at times (to over come your judgments and go ‘there’ with someone) for you to be able to get over that and learn from it.

I am the type of person that does genuinely try to figure out people. Like: why does he do that? What happened in their lives to make them be that way? Is it natural for them to live such a full life, or did they have some sort of experience? Why are they always grouchy? Is it just their personality or are they hurting over something?

Sometimes the answer to these questions opens our eyes and hearts to accepting the other person. In my case it helped a ton. It will certainly helped me relate more to Lady in the future and give her response more credit than I would have before (yes I am that ignorant, I’ll admit it). I want to mention that she is a person with a wonderful heart that sincerely wants to please others and cares about how they feel. Though she doesn’t walk around with her heart on her sleeve and speaking her mind, I can still chat and stuff with her. I get the sense that she is the type of person that doesn’t always know what to do or say with someone like me. I like to dive into things right away, I don’t keep very much secret at all. There is something to be said for people like Lady who guard their heart and think first (I know the effects of not doing so).

There are other times though when getting the answers to these questions is tough to take. When you find out that it is truly a part of someone’s personality to be selfish or grouchy. They just haven’t learned how to be any other way – which you could then ask a bunch more questions about, the cycle never ends! I guess the bottom line is we should never quit trying to understand where someone else is coming from, whether we like it or not, I think it goes a long way, if we let it.

I like Lady because she let me in and told me part of her story – that’s worth more than anything else I could want – thanks Lady!