The Holiday Express
AND Another Rides the Bus...
The week before Christmas is always fraught with one more card to send, gift to buy or cookie to bake. I was close to putting things off and being sucked in by the Hallmark Channel’s endless drivel of sappy holiday romance movies. I’ve always made fun of the predictable plots and cookie-cutter attractiveness of the characters, but the idea of plopping on the sofa and consuming all those empty cinematic calories had an appeal.
Instead, I decided to walk to the end of my street and escape on the #51 to the Frederick Towne Mall. Right. The mall. No longer teaming with shoppers and a Santa ready to hear wishes, the dark, deserted mall is a creepy place more akin to Halloween.
“It’s a shame,” one of the bus buddies said with a slight sigh as she ticked off the names of all the stores she used to visit and how she would have dinner at the Ground Round every Friday night. The mall was where she had her first job, she said, and where she went on movie dates. Maybe it was time for the FTM to close up shop, but my fellow rider and I were hoping for something even better to take its place. Elected officials and concerned residents have a job to do.
But in the meantime we still had Boscov’s to help in our quest for final presents. And if you have someone on your list in need of a hammer or a gallon of paint, there’s also the Home Depot.
Another rider said she wasn’t really shopping as much as she was getting out of the house. Health issues had her depressed, according to the conversation on her cell phone, and she just had to escape her four walls. But she overcame any bad feelings when getting off, cheerfully wishing the driver a Merry Christmas.
The bus would be back again in an hour, just enough time to get what I needed and talk myself into something I didn’t. If you don’t buy yourself a sweater you like, that’s been marked down by more than half, who else will?
Adding to the holiday cheer, TransIt is again running the holiday bus this season. Each day a different connector bus is designated as the holiday bus, made special by flashing lights and other decorations and music. Plus, the ride is free. My driver was all set to drive the holiday bus, but somehow it went to the #80. “I even had my Santa hat ready,” he said, but figured his turn would eventually come.
The ride home took me through decorated neighborhoods and past the lights of the Toys R Us. Frederick certainly knows how to deck the halls. On board was a woman engrossed in a book, but who was willing to talk. Her gifts have been bought, she said, but a decision by a daughter not to come to Frederick meant she’d be shipping the grandkids’ loot to North Carolina. Not to worry about getting it there by Christmas, she said, her son works for FedEx.
“Now my Dad in Florida, his presents won’t get there until after Christmas,” she said of the cat and dog treats being sent to his pets. “He doesn’t really need anything,” she said. “Just love.” Now that’s what I call a Hallmark sentiment.
