Getting There

Vallejo 7:25 AM

Today I’m in the huge back seat of a very wide pick up truck.  As I walk up to the truck, the lady in the front passenger seat leans out the tinted window and signals me to go around to the other side.  I climb up into the rear seat behind the driver and see why.  There are 2 child seats anchored to the back seat.  No children there today, just coats and a briefcase.

Looks like Dad is driving, wearing a great hat with a feather tucked into the band, and the passenger in the front seat looks to be his teen-aged daughter.  She’s furiously texting into her I Phone and nodding her head to the rhythms she hears through her ear phones.  The car is very tidy, unusual for a car that transports small children.

Rain sprinkles on and off and traffic is S L O W  – even in the carpool lane.  KGO radio has a long section about the Toyota recall.

On the wide armrest between the two front seat passengers sits a slim cellophane package of the small Hostess donuts.  As we approach Berkley, the daughter opens them up and she and her Dad eat several.  It’s 8 AM and we’re rounding the the corner onto the Bay Bridge approach.  A stunning view of the City across the water.  The sun is shining through the fog and rain, spotlighting the Marin hills.  The daughter loves the view too, and as we crawl across the bridge, she rolls down her window and starts snapping photos with her I Phone.  She’s loving the view and laughing as she clicks one photo after the other.

Traffic picks up as we pass a stalled car in the right hand lane (THAT’S why we were moving so slowly) and we roll into the City.

Filed under: commute, casual car pool, Today's Commute | 2 Comments »

Vallejo Monday morning 7:20

A short chilly wait.  My ride is an aging Mercedes Sedan driven by a double for John Candy in a leather jacket. His hair is longish, but neatly slicked back.   His friend in the front seat, an African American, is wearing a jaunty tweed cap – he’s a big guy too, but not as big.  He’s leaning his smooth brown arm against the window and I see a silver link bracelet on his wrist.  It’s a beautiful bracelet and I love it.  These guys are serious, intense and although sinister is too strong a word, there’s something a little ‘dark’ about them.  Like they’re professional jewel thieves or bank robbers.  Ocean’s 11 comes to mind.   They’re perfunctorily polite to me, then go back to their conversation.

I sink into the luxury of the old Mercedes back seat.  There’s a couple of cardboard boxes on the seat, a fake leather briefcase and a leather vest.

Traffic is heavy but moving, and we in the carpool lane are moving even faster.

Filed under: commute, casual car pool, Today's Commute | Leave a comment »