You always meet interesting people on the bus. Today’s news reminds me of an encounter I had last week.
During my evening commute, a pair of young European men with luggage and funny accents boarded the Highway 17 bus to Santa Cruz. We struck up a conversation. They told me how efficient Bay Area public transportation seemed compared to their experiences at home. They rode BART from their East Bay lodgings, transferred to VTA 181 in Fremont, then boarded the bus to Santa Cruz in San Jose. They report “only a couple of minutes” of waiting at each of their transfers, which they thought was marvelous.
They also liked the fast, comfortable American buses compared to the slow, double-decker buses they ride at home.
I thought it was an interesting, and unexpected comparison.
I don’t remember their names, but this pair of students from Dublin also told me they were staying the summer in Berkeley with summer work visas. I wished them a pleasant weekend in Santa Cruz and a good rest of the summer.
Today I wonder if they were among those mentioned in today’s press conference in Berkeley.
*sigh*
A few weeks ago I struck up a conversation in Detroit airport with a young man from Dublin heading to Portland as a starting point on his summer travels. He planned to explore California by bus, and I recommended that he check out Santa Cruz after visiting SF and head down the coast to Big Sur if possible. I gave him my card and offered our guest bedroom but hadn’t heard from him. I’d forgotten about that until reading this; even after hearing that sad news this morning. 🙁