Prostitutes, day laborers...and me

So as I mentioned in this post, I take the bus to work. Saves me on parking garage fees and gas, and it's an easy trip into downtown L.A. I like it, and I try and sell anyone else working in downtown to take the bus. Although I'll be honest, it's not the most comfortable trip in the world, so even though it has all these benefits, a car ride is always much more comfortable. Which is why I accepted Wendy's offer.

Who's Wendy you ask? Well, I arrived at the park n' ride and was walking over to the bus stop when an Asian woman in about her 50's rolls down her window and says "are you heading to downtown? If so, wanna hop in with me for a ride?" I looked around, and said "me?" "Yeah" she said "c'mon hop in!" Which, of course, made me feel like I was a prostitute roaming the streets. So I got in and we started discussing my price and what she gets for it....just kidding. She needed me in order to hop into the carpool lane. Yeah, it was a bit uncomfortable, but she went to explain to me that she does this all the time. And apparently so do a lot of people that commute to downtown. They just pull over at the bus stop and pick up a passenger. So as I'm thinking that I would never want my wife picking up random dudes to to drive into L.A. Wendy says "my husband doesn't think it's a good idea for me to pick people up, but I tell him everyone here seems friendly enough." Surrrrre they are.

Since I learned this, now I'm actively looking for people to pick me up while waiting for the bus. Which translates into me staring like a creep at everyone that drives by. If anyone, and I mean anyone; gives a signal like they'd stop, I start raising my eyebrows at them and nodding my head so as to show "pick me, pick me" which (hence the title) made me feel like one of those day laborers you see outside of the Home Depot or Uhaul rental. Hasn't worked yet though. I'll continue working on my sales pitch when cars drive by, and keep you posted if I have any luck.