I started to enjoy going out more when I watched the movie “Planes Trains and Automobiles” with Steve Martin. Prior to seeing this movie, I used to experience travel related problems with the bus coming late all of the time and having to wait for long periods of time to obtain a booking ETC along with the belief that my ride would never come and I would be stranded, (though this never occurred.) However, this used to get on my nerves to the point where I felt like going out was more of a chore and I really had to ask myself if I wanted to continue using public transit if it was going to get on my nerves so much. This thought crossed my mind a lot particularly on days when the bus was severely delayed and my thought process was always the same. It would start with general complaints about how long it’s currently taking and then end with me saying that I’m done with the bus no matter how much I know I need it and that I don’t care how badly I want to see movies in the theatre while also pointing out the fact that I need more time at home, ETC. Despite this, I have always maintained use of the bus through encouragement from mom especially when she plans to have me meet her places. However, there was a point a couple of years ago when mom was in the hospital following her cancer diagnosis, (which she thankfully survived,) where I lashed out at a Para driver when he didn’t have me on the same bus as my friend when we were to attend a sporting event. To this day I admit that I had no intention of upsetting the driver and that the main reason for the blow up was because I could not cope with mom’s issues at that time and I felt like I had no business being out while she suffered. Despite this, the blow up was done in view of my step father, (who was attending the event with me and my step brother,) and he told mom about it the next day without my initial knowledge. With all the previous complaints she had received prior to this one combined with this incident, not to mention the fact that she was in no condition to deal with it since she was in the hospital, she called me and told me to delete my profile with the bus. This was the first little bit of action she had taken against them following a complaint from me or my step brother. Every other time she had just told us to deal with it. She said these exact words. “I want you to call them and delete your profile. You won’t use them again but don’t think when I get out of here that I’m going to come running to take you everywhere. If you don’t want to deal with them, you stay home and never go out or never have a life. Don’t you realize how much pain I’m in and that this is the last thing I can deal with right now? I was sick of it before I got cancer but now I just cannot deal with it anymore. You either choose to deal with it or you don’t. I can’t believe what you said to that guy. They provide you a service. The least you can do is show appreciation. I don’t care if he was rude or late or whatever the issue is. You did not have a right to treat him like that so the choice is yours. Are you going to keep using this service or should you get rid of it? It’s your choice. But just know that if you make the wrong one, you will get no support from me. Face it. You need that service or you don’t have a life.”
Mom’s response to the incident that occurred while she was in the hospital.
As harsh as her words were, they taught me something. In case anybody is wondering, yes I still do use the service. However, mom’s words really struck a nerve with me and I find myself treating the bus as if it’s a blessing not a burden. I go anywhere I want for a price that’s considered reasonable based on how much I use it. I can get myself to appointments. I spend more time with mom, (she has come around nicely since her diagnosis two years ago.) I go to movies. I go visit friends. I go shopping. With the bus, I can live my life as independently as possible. I realize now that not having the bus would leave me in a situation where I wouldn’t have another way around and I feel blessed to have it.
To get back to the question of what movie or book inspired me to travel, I will admit that mom’s words did play a huge part in my change of opinion about using the bus. However, the movie I would have to attribute this to would be “Planes Trains and Automobiles” because Steve Martin faces the same type of problems that I once did. The difference is in how he handled it vs how I handled it. I got mad at my own travel issues where he used comedy to handle his. To show you how much I believe this movie inspired me, when my friend or mom or anybody else asks me how I deal with the annoyance of travel, I tell them that I channel my inner Steve Martin and use the movie as a reference.
The movie “Planes Trains and Automobiles” is easily among the list of my favorite movies. Needless to say it changed my perspective on being annoyed when I know I’m getting a ride somewhere and that I just have to jump through hoops to get to where I’m going sometimes. Sometimes I just have to think about what my life would be life if I had no other way. I think that while travel can be annoying, at least we know we have options such as buses, taxis, trains ETC. One thing I know for sure is that whether a bus is late or not, it’s a lot better than walking.
By Jefferson Bert
JJsMovieRoom 
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