I had been planning to meet Jen with Michael at Marvin. In my search for chicken and waffles across the nation.<\/p>\n
But I was stuck across the street, back where I got off the bus. Back where I last remembered seeing my wallet.<\/p>\n
Jen called me, “Where are you?”<\/p>\n
“Across the street,” I composed myself. “I lost my wallet…”<\/p>\n
“I am coming right over.”<\/p>\n
I saw her hurry out of Marvin\u00e2\u20ac\u201da place where I was supposed to be enjoying delicious chicken and waffles out to the cold dark drizzly night. As she arrived and hugged me, I awkwardly introduced her to Michael.<\/p>\n
Jen said, “Good to meet you…under the circumstances.”<\/p>\n
I was frantic…I asked a driver of the MTA driver about lost and found. The driver just gave me an apathetic look, “Sorry.”<\/p>\n
Then the circulator, the same line arrived. Michael and Jen followed me on as I explained my situation to the bus driver lady. I was already downtrodden, but not quite sure about my alternatives\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe power of my credit cards, atm…and my id…gone. Do I have to get someone to fedex my passport? What would I have to do? Would I be stuck in DC?<\/p>\n
The bus driver spoke on her radio. Between each call, she told me what was going on. I regretted being somewhat obnoxious on my initial ride, perhaps laughing and talking too loud with Michael. Perhaps I looked so helpless and fragile that she was persistent in trying to reach all the drivers.<\/p>\n
“It was a bus line…about twenty minutes ago.” I hesitated in describing the African American driver. “It was a woman.”<\/p>\n
“Can you describe her hairstyle?” she asked.<\/p>\n
Normally in these situations, I would joke that everyone looked alike. I was suddenly afraid that I offended her. So instead, I simply said, “Sorry, I can’t remember…it was dark.”<\/p>\n
There were three bus drivers on duty. One returned a negative. The other unfortunately didn’t have a radio. The bus driver told us to sit back since she had to continue on her route. Because the third bus driver did not have a radio, the driver would check in with the supervisor at the end of the line to keep status.<\/p>\n
As we sat back, no fare needed, she apologized to the other passengers and I stumbled to seat. What if this third bus driver never responded? What if it was gone? Losing a cellphone, camera, keys…it’s easy to recover. But now what?<\/p>\n
I was glad that Michael and Jen were getting to know each other…and they chatted as I tried to recollect my thoughts…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I had been planning to meet Jen with Michael at Marvin. In my search for chicken and waffles across the nation. But I was stuck across the street, back where I got off the bus. Back where I last remembered … Continue reading