Yesterday I rode the bus home and found myself wondering why I don’t more often. The group conversation in the front end of the bus was easily as entertaining and informative as most Radiolab, or This American Life podcasts I listen to. As my husband insightfully declared, that IS this American life!
Before our bus even pulled out from the downtown station a lively heated debate about where to find Eugene’s best burger was underway. Two riders were devoted fans of Five Guys, two others were equally enthusiastic about their hatred of the place, cardboard burgers, raw potato-tasting greasy fries... In the end it was said that Cornucopia made Eugene’s best burger. All agreed, though interestingly, no one conversing had ever actually eaten one of their burgers. (I was strictly an eavesdropper at this point.) The conversation briefly unravelled into a series of lip smacks and mmming sounds after someone mentioned California’s In and Out Burger.
New topic, superior food and weather of California. Two women, both hailing from CA, together launched into a sort of spoken word Eugene slam. Each comparison was followed up (like the chorus in a song) with “I hate it here, I hate it here, me too!”. You can imagine it, California was oranges, tanned thighs, coffee carts, and clean cars. Eugene was filthy dreads, moldy closets, grass seed pollen, and no where close enough to Disney Land. I couldn’t help myself, as I got off the bus, I turned and said in the most helpful tone I could muster, “Maybe you should move”. Both women responded emphatically, “We want to!”. Maybe I planted a seed.