is anyone out there???

The wheels on the bus go round and round.

Today I locked my keys in my car. I checked the doors and trunk several times to make sure nothing was unlocked. I could see the keys sitting in the front seat. Staring at me. And if keys could laugh, I have no doubt they would be laughing at me as well.

I was clear across town---about 20 minutes from home so I didn't want to have to call someone to come and get me. I wanted to figure this out for myself.

I called my husband who is out of town. I knew he couldn't do anything but figured some sympathy would be nice.

"Did you check the doors?" he asked.

Next, I wandered over to the store and casually informed the men who were talking out front that I'd locked my keys in the car.

"Did you check the doors?" they asked.

Skeptical of my competence, they accompanied me to my car to check the doors for themselves. Then one of the men checked my window and decided there wasn't any way to shove a hanger in without doing some serious damage. The other man suggested using a rock to break the window and then offered to drive me home.

Fortunately a bus pulled into the parking lot right at that moment so I thanked the men and ran over to the bus.

I rode the bus for a while before realizing that there are many different buses and maybe I should've checked the destination before boarding. The man who sat down next to me started listing all the ways you could kill someone and make it look like an accident. (His uncle has a large wood chipper, a pit of snakes, etc.) He then asked me what methods I've used that have been successful.

I pulled the rope and got off the bus.

20 minutes later another bus stopped by. Learning from my mistake, I asked the driver if this bus would take me to Bridgeport. He said no, but he would drop me off at a different stop where I could catch another bus to take me where I wanted to go.

People on buses are very friendly and talked about who was hiring and the best cell phone plans. After a couple of stops a man sat down across from me and kept giving me dirty looks. He wouldn't stop staring at me and finally came over and told me that I was sitting in his seat.

I moved. And got off at the next stop.

There I waited for my third and final bus where a lady sat down behind me. She started asking everyone on the bus if they had an extra room she could use. She had left her boyfriend and wasn't going back to live with him. No one had an extra room for her. She tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I had a couch she could sleep on.

Luckily we passed by the library in town and I was able to pull the rope and get off the bus.

I had reassessed my plan to be self sufficient and called a friend to pick me up and drive me back to my car. Not that I didn't want another two-hour bus ride, or that the people I met weren't interesting enough, but I just wanted to get my car.

Tomorrow is another day. I'm hoping for a dull, uneventful, boring day. No more bus rides.