Top Ten Things I've Learned During the Commuting Process . . .

10. Blend in. The old saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” very much applies during the commuting process. As Frank Lucas said in the movie American Gangster, “That's a clown suit. That's a costume, with a big sign on it that says "Arrest me". You understand? You're too loud, you're making too much noise. Listen to me, the loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room.” With that being said, I try not to “make too much noise”!

9. Enjoy the view (the best you can, sometimes it ain’t all that pretty). This is definitely people watching in its finest form. Besides an airport, this has to be the best in my opinion. You see all kinds of folks from every walk of life. From the high school student to the college student to the private school student to the construction worker to the office worker to the fast food worker to the restaurant worker to the executive to the homeless to the addict – you name it, we see it all, day in and day out.

8. Have some cash on hand. One morning our shuttle driver at the Brookhaven station was really, really late. I could have taken a cab from there but I absolutely didn’t even have a buck in my wallet. So I had to wait about 40 minutes for the shuttle. Lesson learned.

7. Wear comfortable shoes. Ladies, this goes without saying. You can still be stylish and be comfortable. I’m doing it and my feet don’t hurt when I get home!

6. Use the restroom before you leave. Another one that goes without saying. Public restrooms on the public transportation route can get pretty nasty. I’m just guessing on that one as I’ve avoided those like the plague.

5. Do enjoy the cat naps. It's amazing to me that I can sleep in a bus, full of strangers, that's traveling at high speeds along the Interstate. But alas, I've never had any difficulty sleeping in anything that's moving. I am convinced my mother must have driven me around as a baby in an effort to get me to sleep. I used to go hunting with my Dad when I was younger and I never ever saw one deer during that time because I was always asleep! I didn't see my first until I was well into my 20's. During boating trips on our 30-foot Trojan cabincruiser as a kid, I'd grab my towel and baby oil and would hit the front deck of the boat to sunbathe, and well, to sleep of course. Once I missed the biggest manta ray as it jumped over the bow of the boat. Figures, huh? My mom used to say that I was going to sleep my life away. She's probably right.

4. Don't attempt to sleep when sitting on an aisle seat. This I have learned lately. It appears I've almost fallen out of my seat a few times. I've felt it myself, that immediate pull back and jump when you feel out of sorts when sleeping. Thank God, I haven't ended up in the aisle. Wouldn't that be something?

3. Snoring. Don’t worry about snoring if you cat nap because everyone else is also cat napping and snoring or listening to music or talking on their cell phone or, well, you get it. Everyone is busy doing something else and they aren’t worried about your snoring.

2. Abandon all control. You have absolutely no control over the route, the speed, who sits with you, what time you depart and arrive, etc. You get the picture - NONE. You just gotta go with the flow, you know? This has to be the hardest for me, as many of you can imagine.

And the absolute top thing I’ve learned:

1. Women bus drivers rock! You'd think they were driving a Miata the way they weave in an out of those lanes but I tell you, I've never been concerned that we would wreck. I trust they will get me to my destination (and they've been very successful at this, thus far).

I'm sure if asked to come up with a Top Ten list in another six months, I will, no doubt, have ten very different things to write about. Every day is so different from the one before which, as Martha Stewart would say, is "a good thing".