On the bus today...

Until last week I had only chased after the bus ONE time ever. Something (or a lot of things) went terribly awry last week and I full-on ran after the bus FOUR OF FIVE DAYS. I still cannot figure out how it happened, but here's a play by play.

Monday
We were heading to the Adele concert that night and also getting some dinner to celebrate the Chinese New Year (at Annie's request) so I had to catch an earlier than normal bus. I thought I'd left the office with plenty of time, but as I neared my stop I saw the bus was already there. I moved to the edge of the sidewalk (so the driver could see me if he looked in his mirror) and started running. As I caught up to the bus it started driving away.

You won't believe what I did next. I can't even believe what I did next.

While still running alongside it, I started pounding on the side of the bus. POUNDING. The bus didn't stop and I was left behind to feel the stares of everyone that had seen the ordeal.

I pulled out my phone to see what time it was because I was sure I wasn't late. Sure enough, the bus had pulled away a minute early. Rude. Two minutes before the bus humiliated me, I had missed a call from Lindsay offering to pick me up. Needless to say, I took her up on that offer.

Tuesday
Like the day before, I was catching a slightly earlier than normal bus since I had left Annie at home alone all day. And, like the day before, the bus was already at the stop as I was crossing the street. I moved to the edge of the sidewalk (again) and started running to catch it, except this time there was another bus stopped behind my bus. My driver didn't see me and started to pull away but the driver of the second bus saw me in his mirror (my trick worked!) and started honking to let my bus know to stop.

As I hopped on the bus through the back door and sat down (huffing and puffing) I had a moment of panic that I had seen the numbers wrong and that I had actually flagged down the wrong bus. I quickly asked a nearby woman what route we were on to put my mind at ease.

Wednesday
The workday on Wednesday was a serious mess and we ended up having a last minute meeting from 5:00-5:30. I had a gym appointment that night and had to catch the 5:39 bus in order to make it on time. It was 5:25 and we hadn't even touched on the part of the agenda that I had information for. I announced that I absolutely had to leave by 5:30 but after all of the last minute questions (as I was literally backing out the door), running down to my desk to get my stuff and grabbing Annie from the coffee shop downstairs I knew we weren't going to make it.

I called Lindsay and she answered by saying "Did you miss the bus again?". Yes, yes I did. She was kind enough to come get us. Probably because I was nearly in tears when I called her.

Thursday
I didn't have to run for the bus, however, it was two minutes early. I think there was some sort of conspiracy going on.

Friday
I was planning to leave a little early but when I got an IM from my boss saying, "Leave now if you can" I looked at the clock and knew I would be cutting it close. I grabbed my stuff and used my best power walking to get to the bus stop. I wasn't surprised when I saw the bus already loading passengers while I was stuck by a red light across the street. As soon as the light turned green I started running. In my heels. My trick of running close to the street so the driver could see me in his mirror worked again and he stopped and let me on.

Clearly it was a rough week for the bus and I, but I'm not giving up on our relationship. We're going to give it another try tomorrow.