Slugging in Style!

Well, here is the latest entry in my Chronicles in being a slug.  (For those of you who don’t know what that is and did not read my earlier post, that is simply being a rider who gets picked up by a driver who needs to have a certain number of people in order to be able to travel in the restricted High Occupancy Vehicle lanes– which travel much faster than the main stream)

 

I have made the observation that  that 80 – 85 MPH seems to be the average speed of travel for those traveling in the HOV lanes.   Perhaps it is because is the end of the day and people just want to get home.  Riders like myself just have to stop paying attention to the speedometer.  Of course on this day I just couldn’t help it.  I got picked up at the slug line by a gentleman driving a Jaguar!  Sweet ride.   My brother would call him a Buppie– his own adaptation.   Yuppies being the term used in the 80’s for Young Urban Professional; well my brother took it one step farther.  Since “Yuppies” were by in large always represented as being white, my brother decided that if you were black, then you must be a Buppie– only in my dysfunctional family do you find such logic.  🙂

So there I was in the back seat of a Jag, being driven by a Buppie.  While we were still in Crystal City proper, he could not really put the petal to the metal, but once we hit the highway, the brother floored itj!  I saw the speedometer hit 60 then 70 then 80 then 90 and he settled in at approx. 105 mile per hour.   The ride was so smooth that you could not tell you were going that fast, but I go kind of scared when I noticed that  the speedometer went in excess 180 MPH!!! 

Nothing like riding in style.  This ride had all of the bells and whistles and probably cost just slightly less than my house!  Fine leather seats, built in GPS, etc, etc, etc.  I almost wanted to take my towel  out of my back pack and put it under me to make sure I didn’t mar the leather!  He was jamming with his 70’s and 80’s hits running one right after the other.  Then, still traveling in excess of 100 MPH, I saw him pull out his cell phone and answer it.  Now only one hand on the wheel and no reduction in speed!  Carrie Underwood came to mind and I silently thought to myself:  “Jesus take the Wheel!”  Tim Hawkins Christian Comedian)  would have had a field day with this one.

 

Well we (there was another passenger up front) listened to him conduct his business and then twisted around– as he sped up a little– and put his phone away.   Not three minutes later there was a beeping sounded that sounded like the phone ringing .  Well we knew it wasn’t his as it was obviously on vibrate.  My phone was on vibrate so naturally I thought it was the other passenger.  I thought it odd that he was looking around at me.  To both of our surprise our Buppy driver reached over and hit a button on the center console and said, “Hello!”  The Jag had an onboard phone… Guess Ishould not be suprised.  To the best of my memory, here is how the converstion went:

Driver:  Hello

Son: Hi Dad, do you want me to take to the trash out?

Driver:  No, I got it.

Son:  Are you sure, I don’t mind

Driver:  No, I think it might be a little bit too heavy for you this time, I’ll take care of it when I get home.  I’m not far away now.

Son:  I’m sure I can do it.

Driver:  Thanks for offering.  I’ll take care of it.  See you when I get home.

The driver hit the button and closed the connection.  Once again he reached for the cell phone.  Once again he did not slow down! “Jesus Take the Wheel!”  Conducted more business and was off sooner this time.  It wasn’t long before  we exited the highway and for lack of  a better to express it… came in for  landing on runway one.  I of course said my thank yous and exited the vehicle.  The other passenger remained… destination unknown.

My Exprience as a Slug

Oh, wait a minute, that’s not exactly where I’m heading with this post…. Ummm lets move from the noun form to the verb form (such as it is, unofficially) and try this definition…

Slugging, also known as casual carpooling, is the practice of forming ad hoc, informal carpools for purposes of commuting, essentially a variation of ride-share commuting and hitchhiking. While the practice is most common and most publicized in the congested Washington, D.C. area, slugging also occurs in San Francisco, Houston, and internationally.  Typically slugging is motivated by an incentive such as a faster HOV lane or a toll reduction.

I have lived in the Washington, D.C. area for 24 years now and I can count the number of times I have taken a slug ride on my ten fingers (well, eight fingers and two thumbs for the extremely technical) without running out.  Sometimes with a friend and other times quite by accident because I was standing at my bus stop on the main drag and a car pulled up and picked me up.  Up until about 2 months ago I did not have a driver’s license (due in part to a medical condition) and so have been a professional pedestrian and public transportation commuter (A groove that is easy to get into–and hard to get out of– when you grew up in New York City).  But, alas, through a series of life changing events I am now a driver.

I am sure that you have noticed the price of gasoline… I sure have.  So I have been taking measures to keep my gas purchases at a minimum.  Driving is a nice luxury but it is just that a luxury.  And an expensive one at that!  So, as opposed to making the drive from my home to my office every day (about 50 miles round trip), I have been taking the commuter bus.  My employer covers half of that expense, but I still have to foot the bill for the other half.  While the larger amounts of currency are made of paper, my dad was right… it really doesn’t grow on trees!  If he were still alive I would officially have to concede that one.  So, living in the Washington D.C. suburbs, slugging has been an option that was always open to me, but not really convenient while I was not a driver.  So it was time to give it a try.

Yesterday was my first “official” attempt.  I drove to the commuter lot and took the Commuter bus to work (still have to use the transportation benefits from my employer) but I slugged home!    At the the end of the day I left the office and walked to the slug line for my commuter lot.  A car pulled up and they were headed to my destination.  I got in….said thank you and was silent from there on… the Modus Operandi of a slug…. You can ride but just sit there and be quiet.  I just need your body so that I can drive on the HOV lane... That is unless the driver actually starts the conversation.

The PROs:  Without having to do all of the waiting and make all of the bus stops, my travel time was cut by a full hour!  My dog who was waiting at home to be fed was much more appreciative of that that I was!  The ride in the car (well this one was a luxury pickup) was very comfortable and did not bother my bad back like the commuter bus seats do!  Nice.  You don’t’ have to worry about the person next to you striking up a conversation when all you really want to do is chill, and I did not have to listen to the same guy on the bus who screams into the phone when he calls his wife every day to let her know he  is on the bus.  I think text messaging was invented for the likes of him.  Although he is not as bad as a gentleman who used to ride my bus who would wait until he go on the bus to make probably the same call every day and yell “I’m on My CELL PHONE!”  No need to yell, everybody on the bus already knew it.

The CONS:  Not many really.  Depends on the driver I would imagine.  The driver of the vehicle I was in was doing a constant 80 MPH in a 65MPH zone!  What is sad is that he couldn’t even keep up with most of the pack.  Certainly you still have to be careful about who you ride with, particularly if you are a lady, and if its raining, waiting in a slug line ain’t desirable (pardon my English… or lack thereof).  Of course its not all that desirable to wait for a bus in the rain either.

So, all in all, after my nice slow, drive home, I concluded that was alright.  I think my dog chimed in the same, but I could have been hearing things.  So I would recommend slugging to anyone who is able to get to a slug line.  Oh yeah…. always remember to be kind and courteous to your driver… especially considering that you may need to ride with them again!

Boys and their toys

I commute to work every day on the commuter bus and there is not a whole lot to do except to read and/or sleep. The trip normally takes about 45 minutes – 1 hour.  But, then there are days like the other day where there is traffic  that is so heavy that the commute time can easily expect to be doubled.  At least the bus was air conditioned and for the most part (if you don’t have bad back like me) comfortable.

What made this ride singularly different was the unexpected “competition” that ensued.  It made me realize just how many “toys” I actually carry around.  I was not consciously trying to compete, mind you, but on an unconscious level I guess I allowed it to happen.  Or was I just showing off?  Nawww that can’t be it.  You must be chomping at the bit now to find out what in the world I’m talking about.  Well without further adieu I guess I’ll just jump right into it. 🙂

There I sat realizing that I was in this for the long haul… after all, my only alternative was to get out and walk.  So I pulled out my Barnes & Noble Color Nook and started reading the Sci-Fi book that I downloaded for free.  I was well aware of the gentleman sitting next to me.  It was hard not be aware of him because he was producing an extremely abnormal (IMHO) amount of heat.  In my peripheral vision I saw him continuously glancing over at my book reader.  Finally he reached down into his bag and pulled out… you guessed it, his book reader.  But I noticed that this poor fellow had gone over to the “dark side.” for he owned an Amazon Kindle 3.  I had to smile inwardly at his pitiful attempt to produce a better device. 

Realizing that I was going to be on the bus for quite a while yet and that my boss was stuck  in the same traffic, I thought it prudent to text her.  So I put my Nook on my lap and pulled out my HTC Inspire Android phone (operating on AT&T’s wannabe 4G network).  My competitor put down his Kindle and produced an Apple iPhone4.  Another sad attempt but I have to admit this one did stand up better to the challenge!  Having sent my messages I put the phone away.  What a coincidence, so did the “brutha” next to me.

Now I started thinking about work and my to-do list!   So… you guessed it, I put the Nook down once again and reached back into the bag for yet another “toy.”  I pulled out my Acer  A500 10.1 inch android tablet.  As the pride welled up inside of me I thought for sure, “I’ve got this dude beat now.”  Not so!  With an almost undetectable smirk on his face,  he pulled out his Samsung Galaxy tablet complete with internet access!  But he didn’t have the apps I had!!!  I pulled up Angry birds and so did he.  I pulled up Angry Birds Rio… he had to download it!  YES!  I had him now. 🙂  Well after we were done with Angry Birds we both put the tablets away.   And it was almost with a somber attitude that he turned to me and said, “I’m done.  You got anything else and you win.”   That was the first time it hit me that we were actually in a competition.  I thought to myself… ‘should I be humble and end this thing with a tie or do I reach into “the bag” again?’  Well, you know I couldn’t resist.   I unzipped the front pocket of my work bag and pulled out my Apple iPOD touch (my one and only “cross-over” device).  He offered me his hand and we shook.  All I could think of as I put on my music was ‘Boys and their toys’ and so had to write this blog entry.