Kevin on the CDTA

Wow, five days. I can’t believe it. It barely seems like four! I could swear it was just last week I had my own blog that wasn’t on a Hearst Corporation news site. Now look at me!

As a special treat and way to celebrate this momentous occasion, I give you the very first post I wrote for this blog. Previously unpublished, it’s been dusted off and presented as bonus material for you loyal readers who have stuck through all five exciting, tumultuous days.

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Back in November, I lost my vehicle.

Well, it wasn’t lost, per se. I mean that more in the figurative sense. After thirteen years of loyal service, my 1997 Chrysler Cirrus breathed its last breath. Rather than put myself in a predicament where I had yet another monthly payment I couldn’t afford, I decided to stick it out for awhile and take the time to save up and buy something worthwhile. In the meantime, I’d rely on public transportation to get where I wanted and needed to go. CDTA became a good friend of mine.

Two quick side notes. First: one of my earliest memories is of boarding the bus to go to downtown Troy with my mother. I remember specifically her saying “alright, we’re gonna go bye bye now.” Going bye bye meant getting on the bus and getting away from the house, which was a rare treat, and as such I got excited at the prospect of boarding. I’d get excited when it started moving, look out the window, and wave goodbye to nobody in particular.

Nostalgia~!

Second: know what I miss? The old white CDTA buses with the blue stripes. You’ll still see some of them around, but for the most part they’ve been replaced (at least in Troy) by those blue monstrosities that look like the thing you drop into the back of your toilet bowl. Give me the white with blue stripes any day. Speaking of that color scheme, know what else I miss? Those old “Hospital Property” towels. Anyone who was in a hospital (particularly Albany Medical) during the 1980s knows exactly what I’m talking about. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes! Riding the bus.

My place of employment provides me with a unique benefit: by using my identification card, I can ride any bus on the Troy line (both within and to-from) absolutely free of charge. It’s really an amazing benefit for the employees and students, and with the price of gas and routes available to me, I should have utilized it even when I did have a car.

I didn’t simply because I love the act of driving. Not that this means I have a manly obsession with cars. As far as they work, models, engines and so forth, I am woefully inept to the point of having my masculinity put into question. The one constant I do share with other men, though, is the need to be behind the wheel. I don’t adhere to the view that driving capability is determined by gender, but there’s still a part of me that feels slightly emasculated being in the passenger’s seat while some lovely lass is driving.

Unfortunately, I don’t have much choice in the matter these days. So here I find myself, writing this post en route to my first meeting with power-hungry blog raider Mike Huber. About two stops after I started writing, a very large man boarded the bus.There was a not entirely unpleasant but strong smell that hit me as soon as he got on. I recognized it right away: incense. This man had either smoked up and overcompensated by going heavy on the incense to hide the smell, or he used so much incense he’d gotten high on the stuff itself.

He carried with him an overpowering stench that combined clove cigarettes, incense, and the city of Troy. Naturally, with all the seats available, he sat directly in front of me; his size  testing th limits of the blue acrylic seats. To add to the awkwardness, each time the bus encountered so much as a grove in the asphalt, the back of his seat would tap against my Macbook’s protective case as if to give me a message in morse code that read “I WILL NOT BE IGNORED, KEVIN MICHAEL MARSHALL.’

At this point I was faced with a difficult quandary: do I gather my belongings and relocate to another seat or tough it out for the rest of the ride? I certainly didn’t want to appear rude, and the gesture would be pretty awkward since we were the only two passengers on the bus. He’d know that he was the reason behind my relocation. I took a chance on the assumption that he’s one of those folks that is either blissfully unaware or unconcerned with the actions of those around him.

What my co-passenger most likely thought he was riding. "Where ya goin', Bastion? Wolf Road? Well hop on!"

I moved without incident. After some casual observation, I came to the conclusion that not only did he not realize I had moved because of him,  he most likely never knew I was behind him in the first place. As a matter of fact, he may not have known he was riding a bus. For all he knew, he was setting off on an incredible journey on the back of a half-dog, half-dragon creature.

Often, folks like him are why people my age and younger exhibit apprehension at the idea of using public transportation. For me, it’s what makes the ride an adventure.

My primary passions involve writing and acting, both of which involve crafting unique and identifiable characters using the power of one’s mind. I need to see people such as this to know that there’s a life outside of my own and that of the people around me. I need not travel far to find different and exotic people. They’re all over our area, they ride the bus, and want to know a little secret? They’re mostly harmless. Murderers don’t ride the bus. They’re too busy murderin’.

So man who had a suspiciously strong scent of incense to him: thank you. You, and so many others in and around this city, have inspired me once again. I am a better writer and a better person simply for having had the brief pleasure of your company.

And I encourage you, dear reader, to give the CDTA a chance, even if it’s just for a brief excursion on the weekend. If you do, there’s a good chance the ride will be a great deal more interesting and worthwhile than your destination.

REACT: Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you have to remove yourself from an awkward situation but don’t quite know how to do so? Also, feel free to share your own CDTA stories.

SEE ALSO: The blog Leigh Cummings: Albany is Where the Heart Is, and in particular her  (mori)busphilosophorum posts highlighting her adventures in commuting on the CDTA.