Reality Can Be Harsh

I can't remember the last time I was an abject failure at anything. Oh sure, there were plenty of times when I teetered on the brink only to pull myself back into some kind of redemptive state. Heck, even Lynn Dickey didn't strike me out EVERY time, and my principals always kept me around long enough for me to win them over (mostly) with my boyish charm and youthful enthusiasm. So, it came as something of a shock to realize yesterday that I had failed on my summer mission to use public transportation to get to and from my summer job at Lambeau Field.

It was supposed to be easy: catch bus #7 three blocks away, transfer to the #12 at the depot, and alight near the hallowed turf. Initially, I thought it might take too long, but then the Green Bay Metro installed bike racks on the front...just like regular cities! By this convenience, I could bike to the stop and get off whenever I thought things were right. The thought of saving our fossil fuels for future generations of teens dragging main was a pleasant reverie, and I knew Al Gore would be proud of me, and I would leave something behind for my future generation of family. The only things that kept me from biking the ten miles each way initially were that a) there was no really safe way through the city...one in which a cyclist gets whacked every six months, and b) the Packers would not let me wear biking clothes, take a shower and get ready for work at the stadium. Heck, they would not even let me park my bike inside! (the next thing I'd know, a player would be riding it over to practice as per custom, and I'd have to find it later. And not only that...

I could ride the bus for FREE with my staff identification card as a university-affiliated person. It just couldn't get any better than that!

However, the genius plan was a bust...and exactly why it was a bust was a revelation to me: I found that I was simply too exhausted to complete the process! After working on my feet giving tours all day, I was simply beat, and just the thought of walking to the bus stop made me more tired. Riding my bike 10 miles home through city traffic meant starring in "Death Wish 5" (or whatever number they got up to).

I'd see the people at bus stops who were forced by economics to ride the bus to and from work, and I thought, "How can people DO that day after day?" Of course, THEY didn't want to any more than I did, but they did because they had to.

I'm so ashamed of myself. Rosa, you were tougher than I am.