I QUIT!!!!!!!!!

By Jamie

In reading the title you might assume that I’ve either quit riding the bus or quit my job.  Though on some days I might want to do one or the other it is not what I’ve quit.  I have quit smoking.  I’ve been smoking off and on (mostly on) for 17 years.  God, that number is big, super big, but it makes me feel better that I quit.  But one of my biggest triggers is bus riding.  I’d have one on the walk to my stop or after I got off.  They really went hand in hand.  It was my little reward for doing something that was both environmentally and budget conscience.  My mom once said “If you want a bus to come light a cigarette”, so obviously I smoked when the buses ran late, to speed them up or to give me something to do while I waited. 

I have been driving to work a lot lately.  Maybe because the weather has changed, maybe because my schedule is a little more hectic, maybe because since Metro did it’s shift at the end of September my buses always seem to be packed and running really late.  But when I do ride the bus I find myself getting nervous about 1 hour before departure worrying how I’ll survive the wait with out a smoke.  Thus far I’ve survived and I do believe every day is getting easier. 

I began my reasoning for driving with Liz.  At $8.20 a pack, 3 packs(minimum) a week, that’s about $24.60.  To park daily at $5 per day, that’s $25 a week.  A total wash, right?  Of course then there is gas that I’m now spending (a measly 12 miles round trip), but then think of the time I’m saving (roughly 40 minutes a day at least), so I figure just not to calculate these factors in at all since more or less they cancel each other out. 

The $25 a week doesn’t sound bad, but I did the math and added up what it would total for a year (if I never took vacation, etc, so this is a high number) and it totals $1,279!  That number right there is a game changer!!  I was spending that on smoking a year, so there is no net loss, but seeing that number makes me realize that the bus needs to continue to be an integral part of my commute. 

My lesson is that maybe I won’t ride the bus every day (I  already allow myself to drive in on Thursdays) and I’ll still wake up, hear the rain pounding down and I’ll choose to drive.  I should start a little saving account where I put $5 for every day I ride the bus in and then give myself a fabulous shopping trip or vacation because surely there is something more exciting then leaving my car on a small slice of asphalt every day. 

OH NO!  I just realized how much listening to Waylon Jennings makes me want to sing his song with a smoke hanging out of the corner of my mouth.  Well, hopefully I-502 will pass and I can substitute.  Now you know where I stand on that!