from A to B

I do not own a car but believe me, it is such a relief. No worries about gas (approx. $3/gallon here) insurance, maintenance etc. I coudn't change a tyre to save my life but that's what
AAA is there for. When I was in college my sis Bonita and I shared a car and that's when I finaly learned how to drive. I had no choice unless I wanted to spend years within a 2 mile radious since there was no public transportation available. I quickly realized that when you made plans to go see a movie with friends, it meant that everyone would drive their own car and you'd meet there. You know how when you get to a city there are no people walking on the sidewalks because everyone is drives 2 minutes to go the the grocery store. No wonder there are so many obese people.

I usually take a metro train to and from work. The last thing you want to see is one of those super obese people get on during the morning commute. Yes, they are human too and deserve to be treated with respect yada yada but tell me how respectful you'll feel with 300 or 400 pounds squeezed next to you. You understand why I'll sometimes give them dirty looks when I've had to stand for half an hour on high heels because someone is taking up enough space for 2 or 3 people. Thankfully, this city has one of the best public transport systems in the whole country. You can easily get around with little or no hassle. Majority of the people who live here use public transportation to work because it is convinient and it is very difficult to find parking for a car.

Other times when I'm running late or feeling lazy or both I'll take a cab. Especially late at night after a night out on the town. One of the services we use is run by these Chinese drivers. For the most part, they are prompt, efficient and cheap. I said, for the most part because the efficiency applies to all the other drivers exept Mr. Hu.
Problem 1: His car. It is a white honda (I think. or a Toyota. definitely something Japanese) that has been involved in a couple of fender benders and still has several dents to prove it.
Problem 2: Communication. Mr. Hu loves to chatter away and tell us stories as he drives. Actually, it is the same story every time but I have absolutely no idea what it's about. The only words I understood were "yellow cab". I think that he tells it in English but it could be Cantonese or Mandarin or gibberish for all I know. I gave up trying to figure it out after the third time.
Problem 3: Direction. He never knows how to get us to our destination yet he makes his living as a cab driver. He's sure to take the scenic route to wherever it is we'd like to go. I heard he also works as a waiter in a dim sum restaurant. Perhaps he'll decide to do that full time instead.

At home, my family lived in a rural area so I'd walk everywhere. To the market, church, to visit friends and to school. Before you start imagining that it was those 20 km treks our parents used to talk about, I'll tell you that everything was within 15 minutes. For anything further than that, Dad would have to take us there in his beloved car that was the same age as me. Ahh, the memories of the good times in that car. Like when it would skid in the mud on the dirt road during the rainy season but get us home safe anyway.

I went to a boarding high school, so parents (several kids in my community attended the same high school) would hire a 'Nissan' or two to take us on the 8 hr + trip. With a parent as chaparone, of course, to make sure that we did not convince the driver to make any detours on the way. I remember how I used to envy schoolmates who lived in other countries and got to fly in every term.

In France, I learned about l'auto-stop. My friends and I would stand on the side of a road, arm extended, thumb up and hitch-hike our way to town. One time my friend Bijou and I got on a train without a ticket and spent the whole time hiding in a toilet to avoid the ticket inspectors. Ok, so it wasn't the smartest idea but it made sense at the time.