Day 99 - January 8, 2013: The Central Avenue Bus

Today we awakened at 5:00 AM to see Elizabeth off for the Tampa Airport to return to Ann Arbor. It was so much fun to have her on board for the last part of her winter break. Love you, Elizabeth!

I had to run over to St. Pete's Beach to get a Soujourner's Permit to operate our boat in Florida for more than 90 days. This was a considerable distance so I decided to take a combination of the Central Avenue bus and my folding bike. This bus turned out to be quite an experience.

St. Petersburg Trolley - Central Bus

I waited for the bus 30 minutes outside the marina on the curb with my bike folded and ready to carry on board. When it came, it flew by me without the driver so much as batting an eye. So, with some seething, I waited another 30 minutes and this time I stood in the street waving like a bull fighter to ensure the next bus would stop. Success! We rode up to a park where this bus sat for another 20 minutes before continuing. Anger! Finally, we got underway and went 66 blocks towards my destination. I'm now one hour into the trip and have to ride my bike another 18 blocks for 20 minutes to the Tax Collector's office.

Entering the office, I discover that half the population of St. Pete seems to be there waiting for service. Fortunately, there are 18 counters, and I manage to get to one after another 30 minutes and spend almost an hour dealing with this rather obscure permit which the manager says she has seen only once in 20 years! Finally, I am ready to reverse the process of getting back to the boat.

The people I observed on the bus were interesting to say the least. They were a mix of moms and babies, youth who should be working, disabled in wheel chairs, and old retired guys like me. Many are disheveled and appear to not have had a shower or clean clothes in weeks. I was seeing the reality of how many disadvantaged Americans are living.

One fellow, who was about my age and retired, began a conversation. He was very upset that the last two generations were obsessed with computers and cell phones. He said that all this was corrupting their minds and should be stopped. I suggested that the internet was a great resource and that you could learn things in a few minutes that it used to take hours or days to figure out. But, he was not convinced and was so absorbed in his rant, he missed his stop.

A blind man got on, and I helped him get seated. He was retired Navy and wanted me to know all about his service during WW II. I helped ensure he didn't miss his stop and told him how very much all Americans appreciated his great generation. He got off slowly, and I wondered how he would spend his day.

The young couple behind me were covered with tattoos and wearing punk rock clothing. She talked the entire time about her cat named Sliver and how it would scratch her while she was opening a can of tuna for its dinner. Another peek into American living.

Suffice it to say, my excursion was most interesting even though it took me over three hours to do something that would have taken half that if I had a car. I'll appreciate those less fortunate much more going forward.

Our day ended with a walking trip to Publix for groceries which we carried back in our two-wheeled collapsible cart.