Stepping away from the ledge (yay to Yara!)

Well, well, what a difference a day makes! Today at work, apropos of nothing, my coworker Yara and I discovered that we both are in the car-free club. Yara is a hip Mozambican researcher (and hopefully future contributor to this blog) who actually owns a car, but dislikes driving in Jo'burg and simply prefers taking the bus and walking. And man, does she know her stuff! She was 100 times better than the Metrobus call centre in explaining the (many!) buses that could drop me directly in front of Helen Joseph. She even understands the secret language of the bus numbers. We also swapped stories about the weird misconceptions that people who don't ride the bus have about it and its passengers, and about walking in this city: people have slowed down in their cars and asked if she was OK! She even took me with her on her return trip so that I could see where to transfer in Braamfontein. Tomorrow: a new bus adventure begins! And this weekend: no car shopping! I think it was pure divine intervention that we happened to have this conversation on my second day of work, instead of, oh, three months after I'd bought a pricey car that I can't afford and don't want to drive. Thanks, Yara!