The green way

Original date of post: May 11, 2011

Another transit story! Well, mostly. . . I was commuting home the other day and it was boring. But oh man! I am surprised to find myself driving alongside a cyclist as we were both going down the on ramp for the freeway! I perked up, eager to witness something that I thought I would only ever see in an internet video. 

Just in that moment, all that footage rolls back in my mind. The new youth of Los Angeles bombing through the lanes with the rawest of strength. Their message is clear. The machines they power are of simple design. Whose gonna stop them from weaving through the 10 freeway traffic with their war cries and fever hot energy. For once in this town, the cars do not drive the moment, they move no one. Because for right now, something completely menacing weaves through like an infection. They cut through like they are cutting through bullshit. These guys have finally found freedom on the freeway. Anyways, im getting lost, sorry. Simple put, what i'm trying to tell you is that these guys are completely badass and what they do is important. 

Hold. The cyclist slows and turns. I see his worn face and an expression that's familiar. I take in more details . . . The bike is not a good one. Shirt isn't dark dirty, but the hair is overgrown, almost matted in places. Everything else calms, my car slows to a stop and so do all my prior thoughts. I'm actually still a little puzzled but if you know me you know I'm always a little slow to pick up what people are putting down. His expression turns to one of kind thanks when I signal for him to cross the lane, in front of my car. Into the freeway bushes and out of sight. In less than a second, out of sight. I actually have a little girl unicorn rainbow moment and imagine that he just entered a time portal and is now in the foggy drizzly mountains of some neverland where everyone eats pink goo and has wings. I begin my way back to the very adult place where i should be and say out loud to no one at all, 

"He just went home." 

I'm all the way back now. Into the world of conscious freeway driving, the world of so much lost time, the world of clog, the world of stuck. A car approaches my rear view and I continue on.