Google Transit Rocks!

With Gas prices over USD$4.00 per gallon, and over USD$8.00 per gallon in other parts of the world, Google is once again providing a valuable service to people rethinking the value of public transportation. The new site is called Google Transit. It is currently offered in 11 countries. I have checked out routes to places my aging parents can't afford to pick me up from and it's pretty good.

I like the fact that it actually maps out how far one will have to walk from to get to a nearby public transportation point. The only fatal flaw I see is that one cannot request a map for a city to see how close one can get to their preferred destination. It is still in Beta testing and I am sure that once all of the public transportation companies come online it will become a valuable tool for anyone that wants to avoid the mess of driving in traffic, paying for it at the pump, and having the added nusience of having to own a vehicle and insuring it; especially in states like California.

By all means click on the embedded link above and do enjoy!

Saved by the bell...

This is going to be one of the most unique tales I have ever experienced, and privileged to retell. It is the story of a middle school bully that was saved from the wrath of Nam Tasa by the school bell. Sometime over last weekend I was surfing an alumni website and posted a "Hello from Korea" message to the forum because some of my former classmates have changed email addresses and we lost contact. About two days later I get an email that reads the following:

"Hi, [Nam Tasa]. My name is [Mr. X], if you remember. It looks as though you have made quite an adventure of your life, an envious lifestyle to be sure. I recall giving you a really hard time in the cruel times of junior high. I would like to buy you a beer or a meal or something and catch up if you would like, sort of my own version of karmic upgrade, a la "Earl". Oddly enough, I live in Incheon. Cheers, Mate. [Mr. X]"

The real question here is Who doesn't get picked on? I admit I got picked on, but back then I thought I was cooler than all because I was in 7th grade, but hung with the older 9th grade hip crowd. We weren't preppies, or the stoners, we were just normal people, but didn't really care about reputation. My problem was that in 7th grade I was protected by my 9th grade buddies, but come 8th grade I did not make many friends and got paid back; it was then that I needed to stand up for myself... and I did.

I did meet up with "Mr. X" last night and he retold me the story that transformed his life. I have no recollection of this particular situation, but it is plausible because it wasn't beyond me back then. The way the story was retold to me was that I was walking the school halls minding my own business and Mr. X thought he would be cool and shove me, knocking my books to the ground. As the story is told, I was significantly smaller than Mr. X back then, but I turned around, dropped everything, put my fists up, and exclaimed that I was going to "kick his ass" because I was done with all of the picking that had occurred. By this time the crowd around us was three deep. Shaking, trembling, and angry I was going to rip his head off, but I never got the chance because the bell rang and Mr. X didn't know how to fight and didn't want to embarrass himself and ran off.

This single event mortified Mr. X and he never forgot about it and never picked on anyone else after this event. In 2008 his New Years resolution was to find me and reconcile the situation in a fashion similar to what the character Earl does on the TV show "My Name is Earl." For the last seven months he has been attempting to Google different versions of my name with no luck. Then one fateful evening last week he logged into an alumni forum from our school and saw my post titled "Hello from Korea." Once he saw my last name he knew it and was compelled to make amends.

Once I got the email from Mr. X I responded immediately. The event was insignificant in my life as I don't remember it, but the journey needed to be done if not for him, but to see the conclusion of something that most likely did occur over 25 years ago that transformed Mr. X's life. I won't forget the meeting and was humbled by it.

I can't say if it would have happened in the US, but the odds of it happening in a situation where we are both living 8,000 miles away in a foreign country at the same time are 1 in a trillion when one considers the timing of his New Years Resolution.

There are many reasons why I am disturbed by this event. I am not proud of the situation at all, it was simply an event where I showed aggression to my aggressors. The only high note that I can take from this is that my defiance against my aggressor transformed his life. Twenty-five years later it feels good to give him the opportunity to make amends and move on with his life.

At the same time it is a lesson to bully's and the people they pick on. If you are being picked on no matter how scared you are stand up to them. According to Mr. X the trembling bravery in which I used to stand up to him reshaped his life and he never picked on someone ever again.