Day Three

Today was a good day for me in the realm of slugging. I got to experience both sides of the coin ... read on ...

Morning: Got to the commuter lot a little later than I wanted today, which was not good as I had to be downtown earlier today than yesterday or the day before. My nerves calmed as I was immediately picked up once I arrived. I hopped in the passenger seat of a white Honda sedan and the Asian woman in blue scrubs who had been in line behind me jumped in back.
The driver was a VERY attractive man. He had dark brown hair combed forward in the popular style teenage boys like today and a closely trimmed beard. He had beautiful blue eyes and a great tan. Before anyone gets excited, he had a wedding ring and — as I later found out — three boys, two in college and one in high school. But he definitely did not look old enough to have kids that old ... Anyway ... He was dressed very casually — loose, long-sleeve, white collared shirt with khaki beach shorts (you know, the tattered ones you find already broken in at Abercrombie & Fitch) and brown flip-flops.
We first started talking about the weather, as most slugging conversations start (and usually end). It's nice and cool here as we've been having a few rainstorms here and there. I mentioned that when I left Missouri, it was in the 100s. He laughed and said, "I'm not dressed for this cool weather!" Believe it or not, it was kind of cold for what he was wearing. Then he told me he was actually on his way to the airport as he had business in Boise, Idaho, and it was in the mid- to high 80s there.
Our conversation stalled some after that. A few minutes passed before he asked me what I did at the Pentagon. I told him it was actually my halfway point as I took the Metro into D.C. He revealed that he used to make that trip as he used to work in the Senate. It was here our conversation turned to the much more interesting.
Mr. Driver was in the Marines for some time (never asked how long) and his final tour required him to be a bodyguard of sorts in the Senate. After he retired, he went back and became a permanent staff member. This job took him EVERYWHERE. He has met numerous heads of state, including the president of Afghanistan, and even got to meet Pope John Paul II. After that meeting, he came home with three pictures and a rosary blessed by the Holy See himself.
Now he works for an anti-terrorism group down in Fredricksburg, Va. He didn't reveal the name of the group, nor do I blame him. But I am curious as to what business in that area would call him to Boise ... *ponders*
We talked about his kids for some time. Once he found out I was still in college, he told me he had two in college as well. His oldest is a senior at Virginia Tech studying civil engineering. His 21st birthday is coming up in September. He is planning on going to law school and, unfortunately, has to take his LSAT the day after his birthday. His dad told me that he was surprised to learn that his son has not yet had a drink, but his 17 year old has. I don't know how much I believe the former, but I guess I can only take him at his word.
The middle child is the favorite. He is a sophomore computer engineering major at George Mason University. I guess since he doesn't cause much trouble, there wasn't much to say about him.
The youngest is 17 and a senior at Colonial Forge High School (only about 10 minutes from where I live). The family is districted for all kids to go to another high school in the area, but they put in a special request for him to go to school there because of their excellent wrestling program. The kids is one of the lightweight wrestlers and apparently has made the recent decision to not wrestle in college. This pisses Dad off as he knows that his son is worthy of a scholarship. Either way, they're both going to be in St. Louis in March for the wrestling championship.
He was curious as to how I ended up going to school in Missouri since I was eligible to go to any Florida school for almost nothing. I told him how my aunt had snuck me over to the campus when I was visiting the summer before my senior year of high school and I fell in love with it at first sight. After that, my mind was set.
We talked more about wrestling since I knew a good deal about Brandon High School (it was only fifteen minutes away from where i went to school). We both dislike their wrestling and shared our 'hate' stories. I told him was pretty involved with my high school wrestling team — was even dating one of them — and my father wrestled when he was younger, too.
By that point, we had reached the Pentagon. I thanked him for the ride and wished him a good flight to Boise.
Good ride.
Evening: Got to experience slugging from the other side today. One of my friends couldn't park his car in the city, so he offered to drive me home in exchange for allowing him to park his car at my house. Fine by me, but we wouldn't get home anytime soon if it was just the two of us as we wouldn't be allowed on the HOV. So I looked up where people from my lot would be slugging from Downtown. We found them and two ladies hopped into the car ... off we were!
From the start I told them this was a different experience for me as I was the one used to being picked up. They laughed when I told them I had only been slugging for two days — they have since the '90s.
They were great to talk to. Both of them were from Northern Virginia. One had honest-to-God lived there all her life, while the other was a military brat and moved around a lot, but has stayed in Virginia most of her adult life. One of the women worked in the accounting section of a lobbying agency and other for the Department of Homeland Security (before that came around, she was part of Customs and Border Patrol, we joked it was just renamed).
The conversation was everywhere. They shared a lot of stories about slugging and some tips for me for the future. Apparently, one woman's mother was part of the original group that started slugging back in the '80s, though it wasn't the system then as it is now. It was more like organized carpooling of strangers. This was back when the HOV lane was just an idea in someone's mind. It wasn't constructed until the early to mid-'90s.
They told me some horror stories from slugging, though they're not as bad as one might think. I was expecting accident stories or kidnapping or murder, instead, they told me how they caught a driver falling asleep at the wheel (almost an accident, but not quite) and how, once, the driver asked if anyone would mind if she would stop at a grocery store before dropping everyone off and left them to wait for her in the parking lot. Sucks, yes ... but definitely could have been worse.
We then started talking about marrying early and how one woman did and the other didn't and neither regret their decision. One has kids (the early married one) and the other doesn't, and they both are fine with that. It's funny how two people can live two completely different lives and each can be just as happy as the other. Just goes to show you don't have to be like other people who seem happy becuase you never know if they are or not ... just stick with what you are happy with and you'll be fine.
We chatted until we made it to the road where the commuter lot was. Conversation died then and it was quiet until we dropped them off. Still, it was a good ride. I love talking to people, which is why it's a shame when all they want to do is sit in silence. Hopefully tomorrow will be as good as today, though I'm not holding my breath.