Humans don't always suck

Having attended SF State for what seems like forever (three years and counting) with no end in sight -- nobody actually graduates in four years they told me between howls of laughter -- I became convinced that humans were somewhere between the platypus and lemmings on the evolutionary scale, an obvious relative of the piranhas.

One morning not too long ago, I ended up at the Daly City BART station, already late because the bus I took to get there was typically late. Being too poor to actually pay for a ride to the university of my choice, I headed to the SF State shuttle stop.

As I rounded the corner, I saw the doors of the shuttle closing and groaned, taking only two quick steps before I realized I would have to wait for the next one. Expecting to watch the shuttle putter away with smiling, happy, punctual students grinning their way to class while I fumed a furrowed frown in jealousy, I cranked up my Tom Petty CD and began to think of really good excuses why I was unable to make it to class on time.

That's when it happened. The driver actually waited!

Now, it may not seem like a miracle to you, but I can't even count the number of times I've been left in the dust by a driver obviously in training for the Indy 500, so it was pretty neat to me.

Once on the shuttle, I thought about it. If this driver was actually a person with some sense of care for his fellow humanoids, it seemed to me that others must be like this too.

A little smile crept onto my face, and I exited with a little more faith in people than I had when I started out that morning. I was convinced, for at least a few hours, that people actually aren't related to piranhas.

[ Golden Gater Online October 3, 1995 ]

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