commuting

So the other day I was heading toward the freeway on my way to work, along with all the other business-type people. It was a gray, misty morning. Approaching the next intersection, I saw this guy running down the sidewalk. He had a black backpack and black curly hair, the kind found on graduate students, studying literature or physics. Across the intersection was the object of his quest--San Diego's trusty public transportation, a red MTS bus picking people up at the stop. It was apparent he wasn't going to quite make the bus. As it pulled away, the light at the intersection turned red. I stopped. He stopped.

Then he walked out into the road. What is this guy doing? I was thinking to myself, and thanking God that my car automatically locks when I shift out of park. In my rear view, I watched Grad Student approach the shiny "pearlescent" BMW behind me. Mr. Beamer, in his black suit, has his passenger window rolled down, and Grad Student was talking to him through it. Mr. Beamer nodded his head and reached to remove the Very Important Files sitting on the passenger seat, relegating them to the back seat. Grad Student climbed in.

The light turned green, and we all pressed on toward the freeway, to work, to school, to life. At the next light, I checked my rear view mirror again. Mr. Beamer and Grad Student were chatting away. Probably, Grad Student was explaining the fascinating theories in his research program, and Mr. Beamer was trying to persuade him that business is the only way to make it in life. The only way to wear the black suit and drive the shiny, white BMW with the Very Important Files for company.

A couple lights later, I saw the red MTS bus pulled over at a new stop. As I passed the bus, I watched behind me as Mr. Beamer pulled over his shiny, white BMW to drop off Grad Student to catch the bus.

I wanted to thank Mr. Beamer for Grad Student. I felt a smile tug at my lips, and a warm, affable feeling toward humanity in general creep throughout my soul. He's a good guy, Mr. Beamer. Grad student would no longer be late to his fascinating theoretical class.

Who knows? Maybe someday Grad Student will be the next Mr. Beamer, driving a shiny, white BMW, wearing a black suit, carrying some Very Important Files, and he'll stop to give some poor student a break. A shot at punctuality. A ride into the future.