My opinion on: public transportation.

Anyone who has had a job is probably familiar with the feeling after a long and somewhat difficult day at work. At least one or more parts of your body are aching, you're stressed and you want nothing more than to throw a blanket over your tired body and watch reruns.
This was the feeling I experienced when I got off of work one night. Unfortunately, I had taken the bus there, so I needed to take the bus back and I didn't know where my bus picked up. So I went ahead and began my twenty minute trek to the place I guessed a bus stop was. Luckily, it was there.
I wearily sat down on the bench next to an old man and waited, on the verge of tears due to mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion.
Shortly after I sat down, the bus arrived...and kept driving. The old man jumped up (as fast as an old man with a cane can) and flagged down the bus, wheezing out a muted "Hey!" at the bus.
Fortunately, the bus driver saw us, pulled over and opened the door. As I was about to climb on, I realized with a sinking feeling that I hadn't bothered to check to see if I had enough change.
This was just the greatest topping to a terrible day. My hands shook as I dug through my wallet, realizing I probably don't have enough.
"I-I don't think I have enough," I muttered to the bus driver. "I'll catch the next bus."
The bus driver just looked at me and said, "Go ahead and sit down, just pay me later."
"Thank you," I replied and breathed a small sigh of exhaustion as I sat down and brought out my wallet again. The panic began to well up once more as I thought, Wait, what am I going to do when he reaches my stop?
As I began to frantically sift through my nickels and dimes, a small woman in her fifties across the aisle spoke.
"I just might have a little extra change," she said. "Let me check."
She reached down and placed her purse on top of her large suitcase and began rummaging.
"I think I just might have spent the last of it buying coffee at the airport, but let me see..."
She smiled as she pulled out a one dollar bill and handed it to me. "There you go."
I returned a genuine, tired smile. "Thank you so much," I told her.
The man behind her who I hadn't even noticed until then leaned into the aisle and extended his hand, in which two shining quarters lay.
"Here's fifty cents."
My smile grew even bigger.
"Thank you so much," I repeated.
As I sat back in my seat and shifted these strangers' gifts in my hands, I felt as if I were about to cry. However, it was for an entirely different reason. Seeing this small act of random kindness had completely filled the total emptiness that encompassed me only minutes before.
Nothing like a bus ride to remind one of the humanity of people, I thought.

This is why I support public transportation.

I had taken bus rides before then and I have taken plenty of bus rides since. I've ridden trains and planes. Each experience is new, each individual around me intriguing in some sense.
I'm trying my best to stay away from cliches, but I can't help that whenever on a bus or a train, I notice the intricate differences that separate each passenger and simultaneously feel connected with all of them.
Have you noticed it's hard to walk away from a plane, a bus, or a train without some sort of story, large or small?
Isn't it a great feeling? It's just a little thing that makes you go, "Oh. That was interesting." Then you catch yourself smiling and feel slightly ridiculous.
But still just a little bit better than before.

I'm not going to sit here and lecture you on the benefits of public transportation. It's common sense and most people know them anyway. Yes, taking your own car can prove more convenient most of the time. I myself am a fan of driving.
Rather, let me make a suggestion.
If you're planning on going somewhere and you have a little bit of time to spare, take a bus. It may be a pleasant experience or it may be an unpleasant experience, but either way, it is experience. It is interaction you miss when isolated in your car. It is experiencing the community on a simple level.

It can be fun.

I dare you.

Try it.

And let me know.