Living in Downtown, Working in DTLA AND being lucky enough to have a school for kids in DT… I had to get rid of my car. Big savings on NO car payment, insurance, parking or gas.
Sounds great on paper but it takes getting used to in practice. Here’s a taste of what it takes..
5:00 AM Wake up, make coffee, stumble for gym clothes and shoes (half-asleep) and go for a run out on the cold streets.
5:35 Walk in the door, rummage for office clothing, and clothing for the girls (that’s 3 outfits..), take a shower
6:00 Wake up mini-adults and serve them breakfast. Pack lunch. Drink coffee and pack coffee to go in my Stanley Coffee Mug (DWR..love it)
6:20 Get dressed, dress girls, comb my hair, sun-screen, get shoes on (hopefully on the right foot on the first try)
6:45 Grab purse, keys, heels, lunch, coffee and off we go. I always take a treat (raisins/nuts/chocolate milk) to persuade (bribe) Bella and Iza to hurry up.
7:00 We hopefully make the Dash A on 7th/Figueroa and hop on, all the while curious Financial District Employees stare at the girls as if they are beings from another universe. The bus ride usually takes about 25 minutes to take us to 3rd and Alameda. We chat, they sing, I read..put on make-up. We get stared at..a lot!
7:30 I drop them off at the Higashi Honganji Center on 3rd/ Central. Kiss, kiss! Hug! Bye..ok another hug and I am off. I have given up on taking the dash back to City Hall because to retain my dignity I refuse to keep running after the bus or angering myself when they leave without stopping. The weather is nice and cold so walking briskly to work doesn’t get you sweaty or stinky.
7:45 I walk into my cubicle at City Hall and start my day as a bureaucrat!
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5:20pm Turn off the computer, do a quick assessment of my desk to make sure I don’t forget anything and then rush off to the school to pick up the girls. I make record time walking back to the school (funny how much more determined you are in your navigating when the direction is home) and say hello to the security guard (sweet old man always with a smile). I look for my tiny tots and sign-them out. After 3-4 times of false attempts, we finally leave. (I don’t remember ever hugging each of my classmates before I left..such popular girls)
5:39 We walk back to 3rd/Alameda and hop on the bus. This is where the popular bunching occurs. Bunching meaning when two to three buses are at the same stop, at the same time. This is their break spot which is bad if you are on the other side of Route A in City West waiting.. but good if you are like me with two little girls walking in the dark.
6:00 pm We hop off on 7th/Flower and walk home..sweet home at Hope/9th.
6:10 Shoes off, toys out and pots and pans are clanking. I make dinner, we eat, relax and wind down our fleeting day….
Susana Benavidez 