My Morning Drive....... I mean Commute

(Chosen from Mama Kat’s Writing Prompts but tailored to my life) 

Each morning, at about 7:00, I leave my apartment to face the world.  I walk the block to the bus stop with my eyes half-closed, still yearning for my bed.  It’s a good thing that I know the walk so well or I’d wander in a daze to nowhere. 

The bus arrives and I settle into a seat with a sigh.  The depth of the sigh is directly relative to which day of the week it is; it seems to get lighter the closer to Friday we get.  Hard to imagine why….  (insert heavy sarcasm font here) 

I generally pull out a book and stick my nose in it, escaping the real world for a short time while the bus driver expertly navigates the rush hour traffic.  These guys/gals are my heroes.  Even when I had a car, I never drove to work downtown; my patience could never stand driving in the traffic.  I’m a bit of a bear when I get irritated behind the wheel.   

Lately, I have also taken to sitting back for at least part of the ride and daydreaming.  I often dream of getting the winning lottery ticket and retiring; a pretty apt daydream considering my destination.  I don’t need a huge jackpot – let’s not be greedy – but just enough to lead a quiet and simple life where I don’t have to drag my ass out the door every morning to an uninspiring job in order to pay the bills.  I dream of the simple house that I would buy and even decorate it in my mind.  Think bookshelves, lots and lots of bookshelves.  This really isn’t such a bad way to spend part of my commute.  It’s a pleasant exercise that wakes my brain up for the day. 

This morning, as the world whizzed by, I spent time fiddling with my phone.  Between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and various games, I have plenty to keep me occupied.  Now, I am old enough to remember a time when we didn’t all have smartphones in our hands 24/7 and I know that we all survived just fine without them but, honestly, what would I do without it?!  It’s an addiction!  I always know what’s going on – for better or worse – and I actually fidget if I don’t have it in my hands for a long enough period of time.  My kids are going away to a cottage for the weekend where there will be no cel service or wi-fi.  While I know it’s good for them, part of me actually pities them the separation from their screens.  (#mamafail) 

By the time I get downtown to the metro (subway in English places), my eyes are open and I’m looking forward to my Tim Horton’s stop on my way to the office.  A Timmie’s breakfast Panini always makes me smile.  It’s a small consolation for the fact that I’m going to work and not relaxing at home lounging in my pajamas with a cup of tea and my newspaper. 

Kat