This morning I met a young girl at the bus stop and I had a momentary flashback to my early days in the city. I say "young girl" as if I'm so old, but it's true, you could tell just by looking at her wide-eyed expression that she was college age and innocent (naive, perhaps?). Not that those two things unequivocally go together, of course!
The first thing out of her mouth was, "Can I ask you a Stupid Question? I just moved to the city from the burbs." (Note: Anytime someone feels the need to start off with that, it usually is.)
She continues to ask me, "Does this bus go this way?" (all the while gesturing in the direction of flowing traffic)
REALLY?
Anyhoo. The silliness of it was almost endearing and made me want to mother her. That was me, a distant shadow from almost exactly three years ago (minus the outwardly Stupid Question, although I'm sure at some point it crossed the back of my mind), when I moved to the city and had to ride public transportation for the first time. I explained to her where to buy a week/month/unlimited CTA pass, rambled on for some time about the CTA Bus Tracker gods, and made sure she got off at the correct stop.
This chance encounter reminded me to explore the city with fresh eyes and to seek out new experiences, like the wide-eyed girl who moved from Florida three years ago once did.
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