Monday, July 23, 2012

Walk, Walk, Walk

It's raining again, just a light rain, but enough to make gray and sticky with humidity. I have several errands to run, and I'll probably just go on foot. I'm so glad that my foot is healed. I really depend on being able to walk around. And it's such good exercise.

Today I could take the bus and cut down on some of the walking. I have to walk to a local Mailboxes shop to have a form notarized, about 0.8 miles away and right on the bus route. With my discount, my bus fare is only about 40 cents, so it's not the money. For these short trips, I usually find I can get there on foot as fast, or almost so, as using the bus. They never run on time, and are almost as likely to be early as late, so you have to go early to the stop. I usually allow 10 minutes. But  as often as not, the bus will be 10 or 15 minutes late, making a total of 20-25 minutes of waiting. Well, I can walk a mile in that time, and being impatient I'd rather walk than wait.

I make exceptions when it's very hot, or pouring buckets or rain, or if there is a lot of snow. Half the businesses and homeowners don't clear their sidewalks when it snows, and that makes walking a little hazardous. No worries about snow these days, though. When it's hot I usually just go early, if possible, and make sure to take a route, even if a little longer, that has a lot of shade. Shade makes a lot of difference.

Sometimes I start thinking I'd like to renew my driver's license when my eyesight is cleared for driving. But really, I'm glad I've been forced into learning to live without a car. It's so much better for the environment, and it also saves a rather large amount of money. Between the gas, registration, the insurance, and car maintenance and repairs, car transportation usually takes many hundreds of dollars out of your annual budget, even if you don't have a car payment. Is it worth it? I think I've decided no.

Admittedly, much of my decision not to drive is based on environmental factors. But I see so many people around here who I know are on limited incomes, and they are driving big, new cars. I am  amazed that they have enough money left for housing and food! These are usually younger people... people my age grew up when it was just cool to have a car, any car, and a lot of the guys bought and fixed up a junky old car and drove it with pride. In the "hippie era" it wasn't even cool to drive a big new car... battered VWs, especially VW buses, were the thing then.

But I believe that most of the younger generation feel a deep sense of shame if not driving a new model car, which should also be a pretty nice one. Or so I have concluded, based on observed behavior. It seems crazy to me, to spend such a big chunk of your income on a car. I think they've all been brainwashed by the media, and it's become so pervasive among their peers that they really don't feel they have a choice.  Sad.

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