Whenever I’m in Albuquerque I like to ride the bus. The bus in ABQ is unique. When I ride buses in most of the places I visit I do it to take in the scenery, to look at buildings, neighborhoods, and the environment in general. I want to know about the city. But, in Albuquerque it’s a little different. I ride the buses for two reasons. First I want to to get to an outlying location so that I can ride my bicycle back rather than out and back. The City of Albuquerque has more than 400 miles of bike paths and trails. It’s pretty easy to do a 20-30 mile bike ride. Typically a 10-12 mile ride is plenty for me. Ride the bus out and bike back. Another reason I ride the bus in ABQ is because it’s interesting. It seems to me that there are consistently more people who are feeling the effects of poverty, drug abuse, alcoholism, homelessness, and mental illness riding the bus up and down Central Avenue than any other bus I’ve ever been on. Granted, we have the same situation in Oklahoma City. But to get near as many socio-economically challenged people in Oklahoma City as I can by riding the bus in Albuquerque, I’ve have to check into a homeless shelter and that’s a lot of work. There are a ton of forms I’d have to fill out and then I’d have to go through an intake interview with a case manager to see what kinds of programs I could qualify for and the odds are that I wouldn’t qualify for any of them without making up some really wild stories. I’d just as soon not do that. By getting on the Central Avenue bus in ABQ, I can get right in the middle of the action for $2, the price of a day pass. Of course you have to be careful. I try to be friendly, but not too friendly. It’s also not a good idea to sit down next to someone and say “Boy, I see you’ve had a really bad day.” It’s good to be a little sympathetic and a little empathetic all at the same time. Face it, we’ve all had some bad days. I know I have. Plus, basically, most of these people aren’t bad people. They’ve just had some bad things happen to them and they’ve made some bad decisions. Anyway, I like to do a few rides up and down Central. It’s a reality check. It helps me to remember how good I’ve got it.