today i got tired of waiting on the bus. so i rented a car. it actually only cost 20 bucks. but then i had to pay the 20 insurance fee. then i had to put down $250 as a deposit. it sucked to have to pay almost $300 to rent a car for the day, even knowing that i'd get $250 of it back by tomorrow night. nevertheless, it was cool to drive around the island for a while. getting things done knowing i can come and go as i please.
in new york, the opposite is true. having a car there is much more of a hassle. driving sucks. parking sucks. traffic sucks. it all sucks in new york. the freedom of going where you needed to go, when you needed to go is all fixed with great subways and decent, plentiful taxis (be it yellow, or ghost).
in puerto rico, this is not the case at all. almost everyone i met told me i should get a car. i shrugged it off, thinking, "hell, i just did NY, i can do the buses just fine. moreover, i was living in BK, so i can even do the crappy buses just fine." no, these buses are really bad. really, really bad. in the time it takes to get somewhere on the bus, in all honesty, you could probably make it just by walking. definitely riding a bike. but with the weather here, you'd drown in your own sweat. so, by default and love of your own life, you are subject to have to wait for buses. they may come in 5 minutes (as posted), or they may come in 80 minutes (as expected). and when they do come, it's not a guarantee that you're gonna get on. if you're not paying attention and don't wave them down (which is protocal), they'll pass you. if there are already too many people on the bus, they'll pass you. if you're not standing exactly at the bus stop and aren't a sexy woman, they'll pass you.
i saw people waiting at the bus stop for an hour and a half. one person took a nap, and woke up, and was surprised to see the same people standing next to them. but only marginally surprised. it was the type of surprise you might have if you came home and saw you left the light on by mistake, or found your pen in the pants you had on the night before. that type of surprise.
to the island's credit - due to the gas crisis, the bus is free until december. so, it's kinda like a "get what you pay for kinda thing".
in either case, tomorrow i must return the rent-a-car. and by then, i will be utterly and totally spoiled. as if my subconscious needed another reason to want to go home, now we will have the bittersweet taste of reliable transportation left on our breath that no half-ass commute system will be able to neutralize. no matter how free it is, it still costs too damn much.
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