Decisions, decisions, decisions… We all have to make a decision at one point or another during the course of our lives. Some will be good decisions like studying for your Math test so that you can get an “A”, while others will be so unacceptable that it will make you doubt your mental capabilities. I view myself as intelligent, calm, and collected person, but sometimes I do the dumbest things. I will tell you a story about how I attempted to go to a Walgreens that is four blocks away from my house.

It was a sunny mid-spring day with a few clouds in the sky. The weather was a cool sixty-eight degrees with a chilly but subtle wind. It was nice. It was one of those days you appreciated life, sort of. On this fine day, my friend Sally had a horrible day. She failed an important test, she had to present in one of her classes but her presentation was no where to be found on the computer,she forgot her lunch at home nor did she eat breakfast, and her Galaxy S3 phone was stolen. We were taking the bus home as she vented all this to me. Being the good friend that I am, I offered to buy her a candy bar and hang out. I suggested that instead of getting off at our usual stop we should just ride the bus straight to Walgreens. Little did I know, the bus does not go past Walgreens. The funny thing is, I asked the bus driver if the bus goes past Walgreens and she said, “Yes girl, now sit your ass down!” It turned in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go. This did not concern me. I thought “That’s okay. If we stay on the bus, it will go around and back to our usual stop.”

This did not happen.
Instead of going around, the bus went to a bus station in Franklin Park. Its about fifteen to twenty minutes away from where we wanted to go. Before getting off, we asked the bus driver what bus we should take to get home and she was kind enough to assist us.

“ Take the um...um… where you wanna go? Lawrence? Yeah...um… I don’t know. 80W or sumtin’. Just go West.”

Helpful right? We went to the platform that she told us to go to and we began to wait for the 80W bus or something like that. While we were waiting, we realized a very minor detail.
“S***, we have no money!”

The money we had, we spent on the bus fare. I started to get a little worried now because I was lost and I had no money. Thankfully, Sally had her Paypal card that we could take money off of. We didn’t want to miss the bus so we ran to 7-11. As we were coming out, the bus was about to leave! Let me tell you, I have never ran so fast in my life than I did in those few moments. Alas, it was not fast enough.

We missed it.

Although, we quickly realized it wasn’t the bus we had to take to get home. We kept waiting and it began to get dark. Two young girls at a bus station when it’s dark is not a good combo. No bueno. We were minding our own business when this man decided to come up to us. I looked at him. He had black hair and a baseball cap. The hat was white with blue and it had a gross brown stain on it. He also had a baseball jacket with the same colors. He told me, “ Hey. I like your shoes. Are they converse?” From the way he was speaking and walking, I could tell this man was so high off his ass he was practically flying. I didn’t want to cause trouble so I just gave him a nod with a smile and turned back to Sally. Then I hear “Alright, okay. I see how it is. Yousa bad bad b**** right? Well guess what? You don’t know whatta bad b**** is, Mrs. Bad B****. I’m the baddest b**** of them all”. This went on for about five minutes until the bus arrived. I got the hell out of there and I never want to go back.

At this point, we are on the bus and ready to go home. While the bus was going, we were trying to recognize buildings or street names. I said, “Oh, I know that building. I know where we are. We should be home in ten minutes”. There are no words that can describe how wrong I was. We waited ten minutes, then 13, then 15, and then 20. Each moment that passed by Sally got more and more anxious and she showed it too. She was fidgeting and biting her fingernails. I just sat there as still as a frozen lake and I looked her dead in the eyes and said “ Sally, we are never going home”. Her face was priceless. Her already scared eyes popped out of her eye sockets, her nervous smile dropped in an instant and she turned as pale as a ghost. I busted out laugh and said “ I’m just messing with you, I’m going to call my dad to pick us up”.

I call my dad and explain what has happened. It went down something like this:
“ Hey, dad. Whatcha doing?”
“ I just get home from work. Why you not home?”
“ I’m lost and I don’t know what to do”.
“ Where are you?”
“ I don’t know”.
“ Read the street signs”.
“ I can’t. The bus is going too fast”.
“ You want me to pick you up but you’re still on the damn bus? Get off!”

Sally and I got off the bus and went to a Dunkin Donuts. I went up to the cashier and asked him for the address of the store. He gave it to me without batting an eyelash. It was like he was preparing his whole life just for that moment. Anyway, Sally and I waited for my dad for thirty-five minutes. When he picked us up all he said was “ You two are idiots”.

Later we found out from my dad that we ended up a couple of blocks away from the Montrose beach. It takes about 40 minutes to an hour to get there, by car, depending on traffic. It was an interesting experience that lasted about an hour and forty-five minutes. I learned a lot about myself such as, I cannot navigate for s*** and in stressful situations I’m an asswipe to other people. But do you know what the most messed up part about this was? We didn’t even get any damn candy. Moral of the story kids, life is going to keep messing with you so keep calm and carry on because you’re going to be okay, if you aren't Sally. If you are, you’re kind of screwed because she didn't have a phone.