Colors

  The Comet buses got a color scheme that was meant to catch the eye of those waiting for a ride.  They had hired a graphic artist to come up with an idea.  It was multi-colored triangles in pastel colors.  I made the comment at the time that this would give me acid flashbacks.  Just for the record, I did do LSD once or twice in college.  I had flashbacks off and on for several years after.  It would be every month; then every six months; then every nine months. I would always have them at home, so I was never driving.    Thankfully, I haven't had one in about ten years, so I hope I have grown out of them.  

 Anyway, we signed off on the color scheme.  They incorporated it on the buses and stops.  Anybody who was looking for a bus stop could easily see it.  (Wow man!  Colors!) That was what a flashback was like.  So, the Comet wanted to do a video for Richland County on the Comet and its service.  It wasn't really a commercial, but it was a public service announcement (PSA) that would play on the county's Spectrum channel.  They asked me if I wanted to participate, and I said yes.

 We filmed my part in the back of the Comet's headquarters near the bus parking lot.  I was asked questions off camera about the bus service and the new colors.  We had to do several takes because of traffic noise and things that I wanted to say.  One question that they asked was how I liked the new colors?  I said that it makes the bus easier to see, and then I get excited when I see the bus coming.  My line was:  "Oh, wow!  Here comes the bus!"  It was stupid, but I got the point across.

 They ran the PSA on cable for about a year.  I guess it is still out there somewhere.  Wow man!  Colors!

Racism

  I had heard that there would be a man at a City of Columbia council meeting that wanted to speak on racism with The Comet.  He was going to talk about the injustice with the bus routes not going to more black neighborhoods.  It was serving too many white neighborhoods.  He had written an op-ed in a newspaper earlier about the fact that more blacks had voted for the transportation penny tax than whites, so he felt that black neighborhoods were entitled for better service.  I had to be there, because I had helped design many of those routes, and I felt that the bus service should be for all of the people in the community, and not just for one segment or another.

 This was the same man who had called me a "silver spoon white boy" for being the President of the Midlands Transit Riders Association.  He said that a black person should be president, because the majority of bus riders were black.  I had also been called a racist in the early days of planning the routes.  There were two routes that went into areas that were heavy on criminal behavior.  Some wanted to bring the bus into those areas after dark.  I pointed out at the time that it would be dangerous for the bus drivers to be in those areas after dark.  I was called a racist for that thinking.  I was being a realist.  So, the buses ran into those areas after dark, and one was shot at the first week.  Fortunately, the driver wasn't hurt, but there was a bullet hole in a window of the bus.  The Comet pulled back on those schedules to avoid that happening again.  I knew Columbia.  I had lived there most of my life.  I knew the neighborhoods.  

 So, it came time for the council meeting.  I signed up to speak.  Most of the people there at the meeting wanted to speak in protest of a plan to relocate the sports field at Dreher High School which would cause loud noise and disturb the homes around the school.  Once that issue was addressed, most of the audience left.  It came time to take up this man's complaint.  I looked around, and there were also two representatives of The Comet there.  The man was called on to speak, and he sent his wife up to the podium to speak in his behalf.  I thought that was kind of cowardly of him.  She read what he had written.  She talked about entitlement.  That is a word that I cringe, when I hear.  I was frantically writing down what I wanted to say.  When she was finished with his speech, the chair asked if there was anyone else who wanted to speak on this topic.  I raised my hand and was recognized.  I identified myself as the former president of the Midlands Transit Riders Association and a bus rider.  I could barely read my scribbling on the paper, but I talked about the fact that the bus system is for all the people, not just some.  I then talked about my family teaching me to treat everyone the same, no matter what skin color they were.  I talked about my family's history from a grandmother who taught black kids in school in Alabama to a cousin who was a freedom rider with Dr. King.  Then, I got a little loud in my speech.  I addressed racism in Columbia.  I told the council that I wasn't racist; the Comet wasn't racist, to which I pointed to the two people from the Comet sitting there; and then I pointed to the man and his wife and called them out as racists.  They just shrunk in their seats.  

 After the meeting was over, the City Manager thanked me for what I had said, as did several of the council members.  I was leaving to get on the elevator to go downstairs, and one of my personal heroes was on the elevator with me.  His name is Jim Felder.  He was a military pallbearer at President Kennedy's funeral and a civil rights leader.  He had been at the council meeting.  Jim told me that there are people out there who don't understand the meaning of racism, and he agreed with my assessment.  His comment meant the world to me.  When I got outside, the Mayor called to me.  He told me that he wished that people like that couple would stop coming to the council meetings.  All they want to be is divisive.  I told him that we need to have more unity in the city to get stuff done.  He agreed.  

 As I saw many times working with the buses, there are some people who just want to stir up trouble.  You know the sky is blue, but they will tell you it is green.  That is just the way it is.  If one can find some common ground with those people, things will work out better.  If there is no common ground to be found, walk away.  

Eclipse

  There was to be a total eclipse of the sun pass over Columbia.  To see it, you had to get protective glasses, and they had them all over town.  I got mine at Mast General Store.  I thought about where would be the best place to experience it.  Back when I was a kid, there was a solar eclipse.  We all got shoeboxes with a pin hole in it to see the shadow of the eclipse.  I briefly looked at it with my naked eye.  That wasn't too smart.  Now, I wanted to get the best place, and I decided on Riverbanks Zoo.  After all, I had heard that animals kind of freak out at an eclipse.

 I first stopped by Wendy's to get an early lunch.  It was kind of warm that day, so I had on a long sleeve shirt.  All polyester (first mistake).  I then walked down to the zoo, which was a couple of miles (second mistake).  I got to the zoo early and walked around to see the animals.  I started sweating profusely.  I looked for a vendor selling water, but there wasn't any.  Because many people had the same idea as me, the restaurant at the zoo was too crowded to get water.  I did find a water fountain and drank a bunch there.  

 While I was walking around, I found a crew from WIS TV that were doing live cut-ins to their news coverage of the eclipse.  I knew the people there, so I just hung out with them and trying to get some shade.  They had water in an ice chest for the crew, but I didn't feel I needed any.  There were other people around the TV people.  About 30 minutes before the eclipse, I felt very dizzy and took a slow fall to the ground.  I remember mumbling something and down I went.  A man caught me as I was falling.  It turned out that he was a missionary that was at the zoo visiting friends. There was a zoo security man with the TV crew, and he called for help for me.

 A couple of first aid people came and wheeled me to the infirmary at the zoo.  It wasn't far from where I had been.  They gave me Gatorade and some cold compresses to put on my neck.  I really wanted to go back outside to see the eclipse.  After a few minutes, somebody came in to ask how I was doing.  I actually was feeling better, so they let me go outside.  I saw the eclipse and heard the monkeys squealing in the background.  I thanked the missionary for helping me, as well as the TV folks.  I wished someone had asked me if I needed a ride home, but no one did.  So, I left the zoo feeling a little weak and dizzy.  I got up to a bus stop and sat on the bench to wait for the bus.  Dehydration is not fun.  I seem to be prone to that.  Ever since that incident at the zoo, I try and carry water or Gatorade wherever I go.  I have had a couple of incidents since then, and neither time did I have water with me.  It turns out that some prescription medication I take for depression has a dehydration side effect.  I have to have that medication. One good thing that came out of that experience was that the TV people used what happened to me as an example on their report of the need to hydrate.  Thankfully, they didn't use my name.  They just identified me as someone at the zoo.  Water anyone?

Obama

  To round out my stories of seeing Presidents (except Kennedy), we come to President Obama.  It was toward the end of his second term, and he was going to speak at Benedict College in Columbia.  Since I had the 411 on knowing about tickets for the event, I tried to get one.  The auditorium was relatively small, and the waiting list was very big.  I didn't get one.

 I was resigned to wait across the street from the event to catch a glimpse of him.  The police had closed off Harden Street next to the school.  There was a lot of people lined up across the street.  Having been to these things before, I saw where the motorcade would probably leave the event under a tent, so I stood on a corner with a few others as close to the exit as possible.

 We stood for a long time and chatting with the officers.  One advantage for being in the know is that you can hear what is going on over the police radio, especially if an officer is close to you.  I felt sorry for all those folks further up the road who thought that Obama's car would come out of the main exit to the school.  That exit was just too narrow to handle "The Beast".  

 After a while of standing in the sun, we heard that the President was leaving the event.  We got ready to wave.  The police helicopter was flying overhead.  That meant that it was about five minutes before he was going to leave.  They fly above buildings along the route to ensure there are no snipers or other bad actors around.  Then, the police motorcycles started revving their engines.  They pulled out and turned onto Harden Street in front of us.  Then came the police cars, followed by a Secret Service car.  Then, one limousine.  Obama was in the second limousine (The Beast).  We waved.  I saw the profile of his face through the thick glass of the window and then the back of his head.  If I had blinked, I would have missed it.  They drove fast down Harden Street followed by more Secret Service cars and press busses. 

 Some people on our corner said they didn't see him.  I did, however briefly, just like my encounter with George W. Bush in Greenville a few years before.  I understand that Presidents need to be protected, especially what happened in Dallas in 1963.  I just wish we lived in a world where they could "press the flesh" more without the worry of being shot.  That's a pipe dream.