Bus Driver Wisdom

I am so broke! Thinking of donating plasma, but have too much planned today. Just finished shopping for essentials at Walgreen’s: detergent, starch, lint roller, black shoe laces, CD-Rs (a geek’s got to have some fun; anyway, I need them for backup purposes). Black shoe laces, because I bought brown shoe laces for my black shoes when I was drunk. Spent so much that I should’ve donated today. Well, as long as I’ve got enough for the coffee shop; plasma will wait a day.

Going over the receipt I can’t imagine where it all went. Last year at this time I was concerned about $3.00 per gallon gas for my Eclipse, now I’m worried whether postage stamps are taxable (Walgreen’s was out). Laces are tax-free, why not stamps?

I ask the bus driver, “Are postage stamps taxable?”

He replies, “Ummm…I’m not sure. Let’s see, they’re 34 cents, err, or 39 cents.”

“They’re 37 cents,” as I laugh at him, “What, your wife pays the bills?”

“No, I do the bills. Who does the bills at your house? Your wife?”

“Used to.”

“What happened?”

Pausing to think of an exchange ending quip, “Do you want the long version, or the longer version.”

“Long version.”

Dread. After a heavy sigh, I pull out my one month medallion and hand it too him. He examines both sides as I monitor his reaction: confusion. I find it hard to believe that a man of his age and obvious experience transporting license-less alcoholics, like moi, was unfamiliar with Bill W.’s friends. Obvious due to his double digit bus driver ID; new drivers are up to five digits now.

“What is this?”

“It’s an A.A. medallion.”

“One month sober. Congratulations!”

“Thanks.”

“This is the reason you’re no longer married? She wouldn’t put up with A.A.? Or was alcohol the cause of it?”

Grrr…I’m on my way to an A.A. meeting. This is some kind of prep? Is my Hired Power having a laugh at my expense? Or is there a purpose for this? “The latter.”

And so it goes that my bus driver is as wise as he is old. In short, this sage has much value to add to my morning’s quest for serenity. Near the end of my ride, he adds that possibly my ex-wife and I will re-unite. Hopeful thought, but not likely. At least not…well, let’s not go there.

More appropriate, in our meeting we’re discussing Step Seven: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. If it wasn’t the alcohol that did it, it for sure was those damn defects of character that put an end to our marriage. There’s a reason this step is so far down the list; it means I’m going to have to wait for it, if it happens at all. Oh yah, the promises…I forgot.

The morning was tragic at The House. A house-mate had a minor stroke and was taken by the paramedics. He’s a diabetic due to alcoholism. This hits close to home for many of us. I’m still waiting for results which will tell me if I test positive for ALT (Alanine aminotransferase). This would suggest, in my case anyway, liver failure. Not saying any more. I’ll inform you all of the results.

Just hope he comes back home.

However, to put an end to this post, I ran into a friend of Bill W. at my coffee shop, Debby R. I barely recognized her. I’d only met her once before on my way to Ramsey County Human Services. We both had business there. I didn’t recognize her, she recognized me! “Remember me?” One look into her eyes and I did. It all came back to me. She spoke of a boyfriend that graduated from The House that I live and often visited for lunch. I asked about him and she replied, “He’s sitting right next to you…and he’s not my boyfriend.” She's a very beautiful young lady. Thoughts of 13^th step fill my head…stop it!

She told me of her six month sober celebration next week. I told her I’d be there. That made my day.

However, I must leave now since I still have out-patient tonight.