Whew! That was one long winter.

I've been twowheeling to work for almost 10 years now, and have biked through the past 5 winters. The first two winters were mild, but the last three have been pretty harsh, and this winter has been the worst of all. I don't mind the cold, but won't ride if there's too much ice and snow since I don't know how many falls I've got left in me. I also came down with a bad cold right after Thanksgiving and haven't been able to shake it. Wha, Wha, Wha, Wha, Wha............ 

 I've been taking the No. 2 bus to work the past 5 weeks. I really enjoy riding the bus and come from a long line of bus riders--my dad took the bus from Clintonville to his downtown office and my mom has taken the No. 31 Express for over 30 years (she sometimes waves to me as she passes me on my bike). My mom has made some of her best friends on the bus--they've grown old together and "watched" their kids grow up over the years they've spent together riding the bus.

Unfortunately, I haven't witnessed any of that commaraderie on the No. 2 bus over the past few weeks. I blame it on the smart phones, blackberries and Ipods. Many of the riders, especially the young riders, have their earphones in and are totally in their own world--they avoid eye contact with their fellow passengers, and rarely does anyone smile or say anything to anyone else. (It reminds me of the anti-social behavior I witnessed on the subways of New York City when I worked there in the 1980s.) For all the "connections" we make in this age of internet social media, it's ironic that it's impaired our ability to connect to the person sitting right next to us.  

So I was very happy to get back on my bike this week. It's a bit brisk in the morning, about 28 degrees, but the pavement is dry and the sun's out. The sunrise was beautiful and I'm sure I caught a whiff of spring in the air this morning. It won't be long before we'll be shedding the winter bike clothes. And I made eye contact and smiled at several people waiting at the bus stops along High Street to catch the No. 2. 

 

Comments

[aliceanne]

loved this one, Doug.

your comment about electronica struck a chord: when my daughter rachel was
in her first years at kenyon, i noticed that most the kids smiled and spoke
to each other on middle path. this changed in her senior year as gambier got
better cell coverage.

great news on the barn business, and have a fun guys weekend.

aa

[Steve Magas]

If you could tweet your post to my facebook page so it'll pop up on my iphone at a time when it's more convenient I will definitely work on having my secretary email your staff about scheduling a face time, real time, skype time session where we can hash these issues out face to..er.. well... screen to screen...

enjoy!

Steve Magas