This morning I took transit into work. It was a chance to see a multitude of people all on their way to work or school. If you leave early in the morning it isn't as crowded on the bus or the train. I got off at Cambie and 41st. It brings my mind back to when I was a boy and traveling on the school bus every morning and afternoon. It was about an hour and that was the first time I learned about being picked on and treated with disrespect. We were all crammed into the tiny bus seats, 3 people a seat for the little kids. The older kids would keep watch for any movement, any talking which they would immediately stop by hitting you with words or a book. The harried bus driver couldn't seem to keep control of things, although sometimes he would yell at everyone to shut up, "or you are all going to walk." I found my place in the pecking order as a boy of 6. Certain people, of the same economic exile as me, we're not preferred as one of the 3 on the bench bus seat, and I got yelled at once for not making room. If I could, I would apologize, but I was 6 and beginning to build walls of wounding.

So now as I ride the bus, I think about the bus ride as a kid and wonder if we are different now. I saw an old man talking to people on the bus, and when he got off he waved to everyone and said, "see you tomorrow" to a young woman he was sitting beside, who was on her way to work. The elder is teaching me the way forward. I hope I grow old to be like that old man. I ride the bus and this is life as well.