Red-B Rider: Howdy Stranger!

I ran into an old bus friend, Ayalbert, on the ride to work today. I can’t remember the exact timeline, but we often rode together last summer or the beginning of the fall semester. One day I asked him where he was from after overhearing some chatter in a different language. When he told me Congo in Africa, I took a shot with the few Swahili words I know and got a smile. I hadn’t seen Ayalbert or his friends in months.

Today’s encounter was bittersweet. I knew Ayalbert had been riding the bus to take English classes at Heartland Community College, with the hopes of getting into Illinois State and earning a computer science degree. On the ride this morning, Ayalbert told me he’d been working part time as a janitor at Illinois State and continues to work at State Farm as a janitor.

I’m assuming that he couldn’t afford classes last semester, or perhaps just needed to work extra to get more money, but he hasn’t been able to attend class until now. I also learned that he’s already got a diploma in computer science, presumably from a school in Congo, but since his English language skills aren’t at a high enough level, he can’t find work in that area.

It was good to see Ayalbert, but something yearns inside of me to assist in some way. Maybe our little conversations on the bus add something to his English education. My wife has kicked around the idea of getting certified in ESL. Days like this make me wish we both were more trained and equipped to help others learn the language that we both love.

The Red-B has certainly been a wonderful way to get to and from work, but it’s also been so much more. When I think of Ayalbert and Catherine, Celeste, the French Kids, Library Lady, Dallas, Bill, Duane, Russell, and on and on – I’ve truly been enriched and hope I’ve offered something similar in return.

Though a struggle at this moment in time, Ayalbert’s story is an encouraging one for me. It’s the clichéd American Dream story, but one we should never tire of hearing – man with a dream, working hard to achieve it and a better life, in a land of freedom and opportunity.

I hope I wasn’t overly sappy today. I’ll see you in Uptown Normal at :35 or :55 after the hour.

Red-B Rider: There's a Cash Cab, Why Not a Cash Bus?

I locked Brooksie's keys in her car this morning while warming it up - not the start to the day I was looking for. I was hoping to catch the Yellow-G and get to work a little early to get a head start on today's basketball game program. Instead, I got to shell out $45 for the locksmith and lost some points with the wifey (general annoyance (-5), late for work (-10) and money loss (-50)). I'm hoping my commitment to see Sabrina (Hepburn and Bogart) at the Normal Theater tonight will cover some of the loss (+30).

Some times life throws you a pitch you can't hit, and like the happy Pedro Serrano from Major League, you just have to smile and say "das, a good pitch, man." Today's silver lining came in the form of Discovery's "Cash Cab," which I got to watch for about 10 minutes before heading out to catch the Red-B. It would be pretty sweet to jump on the bus one day and have it be a TV game show.

Driver: "What's the capital of Nicaragua?"
Me: "Managua"
Driver: "Err...that's correct, you've just won 50 cents."
Me: "All those times staying after school in fifth grade to play Nigel's World finally paid off!"

My "Cash Bus" game show would be complete with "Red Light Challenges" and a three strikes and you're dropped off at the next corner policy. It would certainly add interest to the ride.

Another benefit to missing the Yellow-G (besides having to rename this blog series "Yellow-G Rider") was running into Kathy (formerly known as the library lady, maybe spelled with a "C"). She's one of those rare people that light up any room, or in this case, bus. She's a regular rider on the Red-B when the weather's poor and is so vibrant that you almost wish for cold weather or threat of precipitation.

When Dallas drove the Red-B, he'd always slow down at her regular stop to see if she was coming, and if she wasn't, he look at me and say, "I guess she ain't riding today." Tuesday, I saw Kathy a block down the street as the bus cruised through the intersection and it made me sick that she missed the bus. Needless to say, talking with Kathy for the four or five minutes that she's on the bus, helped me jump right out of any mini-slump I was having this morning.

I haven't seen Celeste (Cameroon, learning English guy) in a coupled days, hope he's not gone for good. My Congo (Ayalbert and Catherine) friends just disappeared one day and I haven't seen them again.

That's all the excitement for now. Until next time, see you in Uptown Normal at :35 and :55 after the hour.

Red-B Rider: Random Encounters with Slow Motion Joggers

It was a wild week for this Red-B Rider, filled with car trouble (one car family, hence the Red-B rider-ness), a slight case of sickness, and most importantly, a slow motion jogger. I won’t touch on the car trouble or sickness here – we can all probably agree on their suckiness. Slow motion joggers on the other hand are quite different. Before things get too uncomfortable, I want to point out I’m not talking about (*roll credits) Baywatch slow motion jogging.

Prior to Monday, in my time spent cruising the streets of Bloomington-Normal on the Red-B, I’ve seen just one slow motion jogger. I try to play “I’m going to fly now” from Rocky in my head every time I see him, because it looks like he’s training for a prize fight…in slow motion. I’ve seen the champ run on Vernon, mostly between the Country Companies and College Avenue.

On Monday however, as I was waiting for the bus at a new spot (dropped the car off for an oil change/engine rebuild), I discovered a different slow motion jogger. The scene began with a mangy looking German shepherd trotting down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. I thought for a second about being a hero and running over to grab it, but then realized it would be hard to hold my citizen of the year trophy after Cujo bit my hand off. I watched it gallop for a bit, then stop to look back at another dog (an equally impressive unknown mixed-bag breed) following suit.

The peculiarness compounded when Slow Motion Jogger No. 2 (so named because he was discovered after Rocky Slow Motion Jogger or Slow Motion Jogger No. 1) came blazing around the corner. I recently read in Sports Illustrated that Usain Bolt hit 27 miles per hour during his world record setting performance in the 100, so I’d estimate this “blazing” speed in the one to one and half mile per hour range. At first I thought No. 2 was chasing the dogs and it made me sad to think that they would lap him somewhere in northern Wisconsin after circumnavigating the globe.

My 8 a.m. tardy brain realized he wasn’t chasing the dogs, rather taking them for a walk. My sadness turned into awe as the dogs jogged ahead and turned around periodically to wait to see if he was still coming, then jog on a little more. The German shepherd got to the corner and turned to continue on the path, like it had done it a thousand times before. Circus Dog Training Slow Motion Jogger just plodded along, but was running with higher esteem in my mind.

Another random tidbit from the week, Celeste, my pal from Cameroon, is now calling me Steve for some reason…awesome. I just had an awkward encounter changing my name from Tim with another rider last semester. Maybe I’ll start wearing a name tag.
I hope this was somewhat coherent…medicine head is starting to kick in.

Until next time, see you in Uptown Normal at :35 and :55 after the hour. (Unless the bus comes three minutes early twice and you miss it…ugh!)

Red-B Rider: Does Tony Parker Have a French Name?

Back on the streets for another edition of Red-B Rider. Nothing earth shattering today, but I figured my three readers out there might be wondering what’s up (mad props to Jordan at Luminous Vignettes for being the first commenter ever). I’ve been thinking about inviting the Frenchies (French Foreign Legion was way too long) to do something, perhaps come to a basketball game. Audoin and I are speaking for about 30 seconds every day when we get off the bus, but not a lot of time to get under the surface of the regular hi-how-are-you type questions.

Today, he asked what I do and I tried to explain sports information/media relations to him, but that’s hard enough to a native English speaker. Anyhow, he asked me when the next “match” was and I told him about tonight’s men’s basketball game against Creighton. It sounds like the gang is in. I’m excited.

Nothing new to report with Celeste – the Cameroonite, Cameroonie, Cameroo-eese, Cameroon-o…I dunno…guy, I started talking to last week. Cold and windy today with a little freezing rain made for a not so pleasant walk to, and wait at the bus stop. I can’t wait for spring.

That’s all for now. I’ll hopefully have a non-Red-B post soon. Until then, see you in Uptown Normal at :35 and :55 after the hour.

Red-B Rider: Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? (1.15.10)

A quickie today because the baseball media guide deadline is quickly approaching and I’ve got some ground to make up. That’s part of the reason I had such a strong will to get to work this morning. See, I fell on the ice on my way to the bus stop. Part of me wanted, so badly, to lay there and let my warm coffee cover my body. A passing car even slowed down to make sure I got up – either that or they were snapping a picture with their camera phone. Please don’t forward that email to me today if that’s the case.

I’m glad I decided to get up and sweep the sludge from my dress pants. I made a new friend on the bus today, and ironically (only if you read my last post) he speaks French. His name is Celeste and he comes to the Red-B from Cameroon. I can check another country off on the Red-B world tour map, and I actually know where it is because I drew an outline of the African continent on the back of a receipt and had him draw in his country. I’m still amazed, and thankful, at how diverse and (NERD ALERT!) exciting my bus experience has been. We didn’t talk about much outside of Cameroon’s soccer team in the Africa Cup and some of the usual get to know you questions, but I’m sure I’ll have more to come.



I’ve figured out my French student connection’s name, Audoin (Ahh-Dwan or Odd-one, if you prefer my wife’s phonetic spelling). We’re now shaking hands and wishing each other good days after we hop off at our stop. Nothing exciting really, but again, I’m sure there will be more to come.

I missed Dallas a bit today. He used to drive the Red-B before getting bumped for the Yellow-G in December. He’s been my favorite driver thus far and we developed some kind of friendship over the last six or seven months. It was sort of like meeting for coffee every morning and talking about sports and life, only I was the one drinking coffee and he was driving a bus. I’m sure he was blaring Teddy Pendergrass today in honor of the music legend’s passing. Perhaps I’ll get up early next week or hop on the Yellow-G at lunch today to catch up.

I find it peculiar that I spend my days writing releases with AP-style leads, yet can’t get to a point quickly – if there even is one – in a blog post. I guess this is a slightly different animal and I have yet to tame the beast. Maybe I’ll begin including an AP-style lead in every post (buried today):

“NORMAL, Ill. – A Bloomington man fell on a patch of ice this morning but survived to encounter an international assemblage aboard the city bus while lamenting a neglected relationship and the death of Teddy Pendergrass.”

That’s enough musing for now. I encourage you to pursue excellence today…I’m trying. See you in Uptown Normal at :35 or :55 after the hour.

Red-B Rider: First Contact (1.12.10)

In a few months I’ll leave Illinois State with a master’s degree in sport management, but the university should probably throw in an international studies or social studies certificate. In my time riding the bus to and from work every day, I’ve been exposed to a broad spectrum of social and economic classes and have made friends with people from all over the world.

It’s crazy to think how much I’ve learned and grown from my experiences in the 20-25 minutes I spend on the bus each way. I’ve honed my Spanish skills with Cesar, a chemistry exchange student from Colombia, spoken Swahili with Ayalbert and Catherine from the Congo, and heard more Soul and R&B than I ever thought I would while riding with Dallas, the former driver of the Red-B. Today I made first contact with a group of French exchange students, adding France to my tour of the world on the Bloomington-Normal Public Transit System.

I have a strange habit of assigning a nickname to identify people on the bus – sort of a way I can connect on a surface level. Before I knew her name was Kathy, I called a frequent rider “The Library Lady” because she always got off at the Normal Public Library and Matt was Leo Mazzone because of a rocking motion he does. Currently, there’s Turner Hall Lady, Money Bags and Hassel Me About Locking My Door Lady (though she’s turning into Works At Preschool Lady after this mornings conversation). Anyhow, I’ve dubbed the group of foreign exchange students the French Foreign Legion because of the way they just showed up and invaded the bus on Monday.

Since I’ve made this short story long, I’ll cut to the chase…I spoke with one of the students today and am looking forward to getting to know the group. They’re a funny bunch and very loud on the bus. When they hop off, there are three of them that instantly reach for their cigarettes – perhaps as a way to keep warm or flaunt their French-ness I suppose.

The guy I spoke with today was wearing a St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap and didn’t seem to understand when I asked if there were a lot of French Cardinal fans. Pretty impressive if so. I think the only French athlete I can think of is soccer player Thierry Henry and the head butt guy, Zidane, I think. Of course the kid had a hard name, and a quick search of About.com French boys names unfortunately revealed it’s not one of the top-100 options. I guess that’s a good starting point for tomorrow.

Until next time, see you in Uptown Normal at 55 or 35 after the hour.