Day in the Life

So the honeymoon is over - my honeymoon with riding the bus that is. I was so excited to be using public transportation when I got here. I remember telling everyone I was riding the bus and I LOVED IT. I'm sure my friends and family were rolling their eyes and thinking, yeah, she's green, that rosy attitude on the bus will end soon.

Well, I still love that I don't have to drive but the whole bus thing has lost its novelty. It may have been the day that the person in back of me was cutting their nails, or it might just be the smell of B.O. and at the end of the day in the Tenderloin where the streets smell of urine, the last thing I want to smell on a crowded bus is B.O.

Yesterday topped it off though and any sort of romanticism I had left in me about public transportation was obliterated forever. There was a man with a cat in a cage on the bus. Poor cat was so stressed out and the man just seemed to make it worse whistling at him and yelling at the cat to be quiet. This is going on for a while and then I smell the strongest smell. I think, "great, more B.O.", but this smell was like SUPER B.O. The cat was so freaked out, he apparently sprayed while he was in his cage...on the bus...two seats in back of me.

Being the good Japanese girl I am I kept my eyes forward and acted like nothing had happened. The poor people behind me and right next to him - they did not have the luxury of ignoring the situation. I can only imgagine that the smell was so much stronger back there. The cat owner started apologizing and saying his cat had a problem - uh, yeah. I don't remember much else because I have developed "bus sense" and I can turn off all senses and/or feelings and also memory. Being numb to the world and having the craziest things happen around you and not reacting is a skill that riding the bus and working in the Tenderloin has given me. I'm not putting that on my resume but it is a skill that is developed. Some might call this a lack of empathy - I call it - SURVIVAL.

Other survival skills I have developed is that I am now an obsessive compulsion hand washer. I'm working at a health center that serves those who are homeless and are diagnosed with HIV so there are Purell hand cleaning dispensers all around - it's like being on a cruise ship, but not. I am constantly using Purell throughout the day and/or going to the bathroom to wash my hands. Then I get to top my day off with riding the bus and being surrounded with more germs. The first thing I do when I get home is go straight to the sink and wash my hands. My hands are getting dry and gross - but I haven't gotten sick yet! And I now have the excuse to buy H2O hand soap and lotion - it's on sale for $15, regularly $25!!! Go to your nearest H2O before they sell out.

Before I end my crazy rambling post I have to mention my BFF Francis just because. So when I first met Francis I noticed he was constantly using Purell, and I thought - weirdo. But now I see that that is what the Tenderloin does to you. It turns you into a crazy hand washing Purell using germ freak. Hey, it's the survival of the fittest and you gotta keep those hands clean or else. I got a wedding next week and I better not get sick.