Transportation

I guess when you are a single female, lugging around a massive suitcase, people are inclined to be helpful. First there was the guy who carried my 62.5 lb suitcase up all the 150-plus steps at Porter Square T stop, since the escalators -- ALL OF THEM -- were broken. I told him he didn't have to, but he insisted. Then the next morning, a taxi driver took pity on me and didn't charge me for my ride around the corner to the T stop. The train was also free on New Year’s Eve, which had nothing to do with me, but I just see all these as positive signs contributing to, “Yes, you should go to San Francisco - NOW,” says God. Right.

So, for all of you who are going to visit me here some day, I recommend JetBlue, if you can get it. On my last flight, I took AirTran, and they were not nearly as nice. The seats were uncomfortable and the cabin was freezing. Plus, I had to change planes in Atlanta. JetBlue is friendly, comfortable, has better snacks, AND they are inexpensive. It’s a good deal. They should pay me for saying that. They didn't, though.

Not only that, I had awesome seat neighbors on the plane. Not that I can guarantee the same for you, but you never know. We got into a deep discussion about social ills and mental health. It was great. And I got a bit of reading done as well.

Getting from the plane to the hostel was a small adventure, though. First, I got lost on my way to the baggage claim because it was really far off from the terminal and in a basement and really badly marked. And then I had trouble finding the right place for the Door-to-Door van service, which was also badly marked, plus the guy who gave me weird directions. When I finally got there, I was referred to the first van that I saw. But then it was just me in this gritty vehicle that reeked of stale cigarettes and a driver who didn’t understand English and he couldn’t find where I was going on his GPS device. When we finally took off, the guy drove like he was sitting on a pile of fire ants. I felt like my life was in danger and I held on to the seat for dear life, looking for any way out. I thought I was stuck there, but then we passed another pick-up spot before leaving the airport, and I told the guy to stop and let me out, because I saw a van for a different company that I wanted to take. I think he was all too happy to oblige, because he seemed stressed out by having to speak English and not knowing where the Hell he was going.

I liked my second driver a lot. His name was Mustafa and he appeared to be of Latino descent, possibly Mexican. He was probably a little older than my parents, with a full head of thick, grey hair. We had a full van and I was the last drop-off, being the farthest away. He asked me where I was from and why I was here in SF. I was going to make something up, but then I decided to go with the truth. What did I have to hide? So I just told him I was here from Boston to look for jobs. He asked if I had just finished school. Yes, basically. OK, and what happened? Bad boyfriend? I hadn’t said anything about it. Funny you should ask… So I gave him a skeleton version of what happened, though I never mentioned the fact that we had been engaged. I didn’t even want to get into that. But at the same time, I made sure that he knew I had wanted to come to San Francisco anyway, and I probably would have done it even if Dan and I had stayed together, but now seemed like a pretty good opportunity to do what I had wanted to do for the last several years with nothing holding me back, really. Was he a jerk? He asked. Well, I wouldn’t say that… I didn’t want to say anything really bad about Dan. Why would I? He sounds like a jerk, he told me. And we talked about it a little bit more and he showed me pictures of his three-month-old grandchild, one of which was taped to the dashboard. I especially enjoyed the one of the little baby dressed up as a pea-pod for Halloween. When he dropped me off, he said, “I’d like to meet this guy of yours so I can kick his ass,” or something to that effect. That’s OK, I said, he’s the one who gets to be in the cold in Massachusetts. Then he gave me an extra discount, owing to the fact that I would need all the help I could get while I’m on my job search. No arguments there. I told him I’d wave if I saw him driving around town. So I have now made two new friends in San Francisco. I think I’m off to a pretty good start.