My first experience on TARC

Wow... Time flies by when it gets busy. It's been a week since my last entry.

Well, except for the one angel that I made for a friend to bring home to India, I haven't had time to make anything new. Beadalon had cleared my doubt about my flush cutter though. So hopefully, I can get down to playing with the new sterling silver and gold filled wires soon.

What I really wanted to talk about today was my first experience on TARC. Before today, when I mentioned taking TARC, friends would warn me that it is not safe because it is the cheapest way to get around this city where crime is rampant. Being the brave girl I always have been, I took the opportunity of free rides between campus to explore this rare public transport system available in Kentucky.

First of all, I was impressed that all the buses were wheelchair-accessible and bicycle-rack equipped. I had my bike with me but since it was my first time, I had no clue how to mount the bike on the rack. The lady driver came out from her seat to teach me how to do it. Nobody was unhappy that I had to delay everyone by a minute or two because of my ignorance. I thought I was lucky.

Secondly, I was surprised that bus stops can be found at every road junction, between 20-50 m apart. No wonder my friends were upset when I asked where I should get off. (Duh! At the nearest road junction where you want to go!) All bus stops were also designated as no parking zones. You will get a citation (parking tickets) for intruding that space.

What really touched me, was what happened on my trip back after class. There were two wheelchair bound passengers. After all other passengers got on the bus (without any kind of pushing or jostling), the driver released the ramp for the wheelchairs to come on board. I took a seat near the front, but other passengers tapped on my shoulder and told me and some other passengers near me that we will need to move so that the wheelchair passengers can be placed in that spot.

In all, about 6 passengers gladly got out of our seats or some others moved to give up their seats for those who had to move. So about 12 passengers had to make adjustments to their seats to accommodate the new passengers. For 5 whole min, the wheelchair passengers got themselves up into the bus and the bus driver, helped them to be strapped safely to the "seat", one after the other. After all that fuss, others who had "caught" the bus continued to come on board. Nobody, I say again, nobody, showed any sign of irritation, or impatience (like making "tsk" sounds...). Everyone was in fact, helping to make sure the two ladies in wheelchair were comfortable and safe.

In this amazing country, where I learnt that being on time was everything to Americans, were willing to spare a few moments to showing kindness and grace to those who need them. Compared to my comrade Singaporeans, whose time is something that has been rubberized and meant to be broken, are rarely patient in showing graciousness for one another. That is most unfortunate, yet I am grateful for this chance to witness and reflect on this.