Thoughts on Pasadena public transportation

I can't tell you how many times I've expressed my frustration to friends that L.A. doesn't have a more comprehensive public transportation system. As I don't have a car, I've had to make my way around by walking, taking the bus, or riding in friends' cars for the most part. In my current job search, I've been considering getting a car because it would greatly expand the number of jobs that I could take. In the whole process of making that decision, I've been reflecting a lot on my experiences with public transportation in Pasadena.

In my experience riding the bus to work and around Pasadena to do errands, almost all of the people on my bus rides are Latino or African American. Most of the white people that I see are older folks who are either lower income or who appear to have a mental disability. A lot of young Latino and African American teenagers also take the bus to school and back. Clearly these are generalities, and I do occasionally see people who break the mold taking the bus, but the overwhelming demographic stays the same.

Riding the bus has been a very mixed experience for me. I have enjoyed not paying for gas or car repairs or other worries that come with having one's own car. It's really important to me to care for the environment by putting less pollutants into the air, and public transportation is a pretty effective way to do that. This resolution has been seriously tested, however, when I'm standing in the rain or cold (yes Oregon people, I'm still cold in California) at the bus stop, taking 45 minutes to get somewhere that is only 15 minutes away in a car!

One of the most difficult parts of taking the bus has been dealing with unwanted attention. On several occasions I've had men in their 30s and 40s hit on me while riding the bus, which makes me really uncomfortable. The worst is that recently one of my regular bus drivers started doing it. I've thought about waiting an extra half hour to take another bus home, but for now I've just been paying for my fare and walking by as quickly as possible, while politely shutting down any kind of conversation he tries to start. It depresses me because I hate feeling rude, but I'm realizing that sometimes any sort of response gets you attention you don't want. Sigh.

On the other hand, the best part of riding the bus is finding out that it's actually possible to build relationships while doing it. I've ended up riding the bus with one of the high school girls in Northwest Neighbors several times in the mornings, which was a great chance to chat (she made fun of how sleepy I looked :P). I've also been getting to know a woman whom I'll call Rosa, who takes the bus every morning from my stop at the same time as I do. She initiated conversation with me, and has since shared with me a lot about her past, her coming clean and out of homelessness, her relationship with her family and her kids, and her current work situation. It's been a real privilege to learn about her life. I'm currently wondering how to build the relationship further and what entering into deeper conversations might look like, but it's been beautiful to see a relationship develop where I wasn't even looking for one or expecting one.

To close off, on a completely different note, I've added a couple of great links on the right-hand side. The first two links are to blogs by two of my friends and fellow first year interns. They are both living in South L.A., and their blogs provide another take on the internship experience. The Margins is a blog by a woman named Erika Haub who is also living in South L.A. following Jesus, though she's in a slightly different stage of life as she is married with young kids. Her posts are almost always thought-provoking. And finally, there's links to Servant Partners and to Northwest Neighbors, the local non-profit that I am partnering with as part of my internship.

"Never make the same mistake twice or you'll never get around to all of them."