Week in review, some sentiments too

An apex. A turning point. Not so much of a climax, but a realization that sums up the past week. Leaning back in the rather comfy bus seat on the way home and staring out the window at the perfectly straight rows of strawberries, cabbage, and other produce, it strikes me how individual we all think our worlds are, but really our lives individually are small compared to the collective to which we belong. This week I became a part of a new community. It doesn't make me a better or worse person than I was before, but it makes me realize how isolated I am from other ways of life that differ from my own.

This week also has made me realize that I am fortunate, and the division that exists between the haves and the have-nots (borrowed terminology) is far more vast than I imagined. Riding the bus provides and entirely different perspective than the view through the windshield. With two hands on the wheel and my eyes focused straight ahead all I can see is the road and the other cars around me...the other four-wheeled pods...all of us isolated, or better yet, insulated from the surroundings the road takes us through. From the bus the view is different. The broken windows and torn screens, the filthy ditches and the neglected children are all much more visible through the side windows.

Things are amiss. Habits that once were a $1.25 a pack or a $1 a gallon are now $3.50 and higher. Wages have not increased to match those price increases. The weakest and the most vulnerable--children and the environment two major factors in the future of society--are what's being hurt the most. It may take a few more bus rides...a lot more bus rides, but there's got to be a way to remedy the situation.

So today, on Saturday, I've come upon yet another reason for riding the bus that didn't even cross my mind: social and environmental awareness. Yes, I did realize that taking one car with one person off the road each day (myself) would help the environment, but I had no idea my eyes would be opened to see disgusting run-off in the ditches that surround our region and the overweight children in the pre-hoodlum stages.

It's not enough to say something has to be done and to be part of the group that points out the problem. It's necessary to come up with a solution that can be carried out.