Public Service

Before I get into the serious stuff, I just want to recap my day. It was really fun.

What was supposed to happen:
Take the Spirit Bus, meet Kip at Atlantic Square, take the 260 to Old Town, play & go to the concert.

What happened:
I called my mom midway down Cliffhill to tell her where I was going, she was tempted so she offered to drive us to Pasadena--I didn't mind, it was sweltering heat, and you save some bus money for another trip--I headed back home to wait for her and tried frantically to call Kip to tell her the change of plans;
we accompany my mom on her shopping trip at Paseo Colorado--Reference, Gossip (GORGE fuschia dress), Loehmann's;
we leave her at Loehmann's and then cross the street to eat at Subway's--$5 sub! Great deal.
We walk down to Old Town to the concert, but are way late and miss it. I felt so out of place amid rockers & indie-lookers. It smelt of smoke, very gross. And I only imagine how much evaporated sweat was in that air; I mean that crowd was eeeewge!
Walked out, couldn't find Anus. Shopped, went into the usual-suspect stores.

That was the day. I impressed my mom with my bus knowledge, though I would believe I am still an amateur; I want to get expert. That is a good skill to have, especially considering the direction which the world is veering--I would believe that we would all live in high-density, vertically-developed homes in the near future and take mass transit as these gas prices are slowly weaning us off of our total dependence on the gratifying sensation of independence that personal vehicles afford us. I'm selling her the idea that buses aren't all that bad; so far, she's buying. She wants me to bus her to Pasadena one of these upcoming days. I'm happy.

On the concept of buses, it's helped change my perspective. It's given me the conviction that I don't exactly care much for profit anymore. The fact that I like to be cheap--yes, I like it--is because I hate impracticality. Why spend more money on something, when you can economize and get it for cheaper? That's what goes on in my head. And, Is it worth it? So, it's not that I'm stingy, in the sense that I'm not willing to spend, but it just depends on what and whether I value it. I've only barely realized that this is the way I think, and this is the way I want to think. To not be a consumer--I don't want to be bound by the Market Economy. I don't want to be a consumer who follows trends and buys what Corporate wants me to buy. I want ME to want, not ELSE to want for me. And I want to think of the value of something before I invest in it. I will pay the appropriate amount--appropriate as decided by myself--for the matched value I place in the product/experience I want to buy.

Not always thinking of profit, or who gets the better deal out of the deal, but thinking of investment. I've always wondered how Metro operates, Why would they operate if they don't even make money? And the answer may be clear to most people, but to me, it was a non-thought for the longest time. The Metro is a public service! Gas prices go up, but the only situation that would force Metro to raise fare prices, is in order to relieve the County's budgetary burden! Metro does not operate at a profit; rather, tax-payer money goes into providing this public service.

I've always wondered--there are drivers, and I'm sure the daily ridership does not cover their salary; on top of that filling up the tank and actually buying the vehicles--How do they do business? They don't!

Now, I'm serious about a future in Public Service. I want it to happen for me. I'm proud that I'm maturing in my way of thinking such things. I'm not a consumer so I am stopping thinking of What can it do for me at a cost to him? Because that is so selfish! Public good. That's my goal.