Making Metro Memories
By Sean McVeigh
Even when the weather starts to take a turn, I still don’t care very much for leaving Rockaway. I’m not a homebody but I guess you could call me a Rockaway-body. Sometimes, however, you don’t have much of a say in the matter. That was the case for me a few weeks ago — my hands were tied. So, on a beautiful September day, I broke out the E-ZPass and ventured “out east.”
A few others were going from Rockaway, so I offered to drive. Some of you may recall a column I wrote about my car back in March. The brief recap is that my car was very much on her last legs. These fine fellas hitching a ride were not familiar with that column. Given that I offered to drive, it appears to have slipped my mind, too.
We made it to our destination seamlessly. Jokingly, I gave my car a pat on the dashboard and thanked her for powering through for this trip. I swear, that really happened. The drive home started off normal, but we quickly heard an unfamiliar and ominous squeaking noise that caught everyone on board’s attention. Moments later the car came to a screeching halt in the middle of the road. Both rear wheels locked up like an emergency brake was pulled (it wasn’t). She wouldn’t even move in neutral. A tow was called. The day finally arrived — my car finally gave out.
With the car gone, I was forced to resort to more communal forms of transportation, and I soon found myself an avid rider of the Q22.
It had been a while since I was last a regular on the bus. Not much has changed, though. No matter where you are in New York City, you can board a bus and run into the same cast of characters.
I was pleasantly surprised with one significant change that has occurred: you can pay with your phone. The worst part about riding the bus in the past was realizing that you did not have enough money on your MetroCard. You’d have to spend the next 20 minutes turning your house upside down in search of quarters. Those days are gone. Now all you need is to make eye contact with your phone for a few seconds and it turns into a magic wand. This upgrade is of no significance to the approximately 30% of riders who I noticed were not bothered to pay the fare at all. But to the rest of us, it’s a game changer.
All of my rides weren’t full of sunshine and rainbows. Crowded buses can get really … crowded. There’s no moving to another subway car and unless you’ve got anywhere from another 15 to 30 minutes to spare, then good luck waiting for the next one … which is probably going to be more packed anyway.
The bus has a bit of a bad reputation. Some of the sideways looks I got when I told people I had been taking the bus were very telling. Well, I say get off your high horse! All in all, I would never hesitate to resort to the redheaded stepchild of the MTA again.
I’ve got a car now. Buying that was a whole to-do for another time. I won’t lie, it is nice to have a little more control over my travel plans. But every once and while, when I’m feeling a little lonely riding in my car, I might just pull over and jump on the Q22 to see my old pals.