My Fellow Commuters

"My Commuting Buddy" 

I was commuting the other day on Route 78 by Lehigh Street in Allentown and passed an senior citizen driving along in his little colorful car. He looked to be in his upper 70's early 80s and was still working. How do I know? Because he was driving a colorful little auto parts store, bright green, yellow with writing in orange.

My commuting buddy looked exactly like that cartoon character old man in the movie where his house was lifted up by a huge mass of balloons. EXACTLY like him. Rather comical. Anyway, I passed the old guy and smiled. He was focused so intently on driving. Good for him!

The next week, perhaps Monday after work, I stopped at the Wawa on Lehigh Street for gas and who pulled up to the pump behind me was the my favorite colorful senior citizen commuter! I looked over and nodded to him. He nodded back in greeting. A couple days later, I was driving on Martin Luther King Dr, crossing Oxford Drive and my little old friend passed by me!

Since then, I have see him on 3 other separate occasions and though to myself, WOW we are totally on the same commuting cycle. It was then I began thinking about others I pass by or see who have the same schedules as me. Have you ever thought about it? You tend to see the same people and develop perhaps a type of kinship with them.

There is a professional woman who lives in Lake Wynonah who drives a white Ford Explorer with a Penn State sticker on the back. I sometimes see her leaving Lake Wynonah at the same time in the morning, see her on Route 183, Route 78, even getting off my old exit onto Hamilton Blvd by Dorney Park. I've seen her on my return trips too. I wonder where she works and if she gets exasperated at the endless commute as I do.

My good friend Kate has told me that if she sees me in the morning pulling out of my driveway in the morning she knows she is running late to her job in Reading. I have to laugh at that one because I think if I see Kate, then I am running EARLY! I saw Kate when I was early the other day, I figured she was fuming because she was late. LOL

There is a guy who, if I am on time, passes me when I am going down Blue Mountain when he is driving up it. He drives a recent model black Corvette. It is probably a $70,000 car. He drives up the mountain while I am driving down it. I never see him on the way home but always see him on the way to work. Except on snow days. He must not take the Corvette those days. Smart man.

I know a guy, big beefy with tatts, who used to work out at my gym. He drives the smallest Volkswagen Golf GTI. I think he is the largest guy squeezing into the smallest car he could find. He wears sunglasses, even on cloudy days. I see him sometimes at the local Chrome Shop gas station in Shartlesville. It has gas for a penny cheaper than the LOVES gas station across the street. I go there because no one else does. I love savin' that damn penny. Can you say CAT FOOD FUND?  LOL.

We glance at each other every time. We remember each other from the gym and give an ever so manly grunt. That is all. No harm no fowl. Just a grunt. Nice guy though.

Lastly, a bitter sweet story about a commuter I would see every day. I used to take in Hamilton Blvd into downtown Allentown before I took Lehigh St. I would always pass a cool ass dude on a yellow motorcycle. I discovered somehow, I forget now how, that he worked for the Court House where I work.

He would look so cool on that cycle. I was jealous. Very cool. I'd see him before me, alongside me, after me, cruising down Hamilton Blvd on that yellow cycle. He always wore a helmet and proper leather riding gear. You know me all about safety. If the Big Ragu doesn't put on his seat belt, I pull over and make him do it. LOL

One morning my motorcyclist friend passed me in the left hand lane heading towards the Court House. He was doing the speed limit while I drove along like a grampa. No lead foot here! Suddenly, a young kid driving a car ahead of me in the right hand shot forward. I probably could not afford his car. I had an momentary pang of bitterness.

The young kid made a stupidly ridiculous sharp right in the middle of the block to make a U-turn. He did not even see the motorcyclist coming up in his blind spot to the left. The cycle crashed into his hood and the driver in his leather gear flew literally 40 feet over the hood through air landing very hard onto the pavement.

The poor guy sat up once I saw, and then fell back down, solidly. I shuttered and felt sick to my stomach. Others stopped to take care of him. Although I always run into accident scenes, I was not needed at this one. Police were on the scene almost immediately and I was rerouted around the block.

I never saw him again and felt bad. He was a commuting buddy, doing the same drive as I did. I searched the online news pages for him. Thankfully the kid who he ran into stopped. An accident was reported. No deaths. I was always hoping he survived and is OK. I never saw the motorcyclist again though. Truly sad.

Ending on a down note is usually not my style but I wanted to make the point about the motorcyclist  obeying the laws, doing what he needs to do, but only to be taken out by a bad driver. I do get apprehensive when I commute. I take extra precaution and drive like a grampa. If there is an accident, I am gonna do my damnedest that it ain't gonna be me who caused it!