Carless in Centerville

Alas, it doesn't have quite the same ring as Sleepless in Seattle, but it's what I am. And don't get this wrong: I'm not looking for pity due to my licenseless state. I'm just dreaming of more transportation-friendly places.

For example, Chicago. One of the only places I've visited where it's actually faster to walk anywhere you're going downtown. And they have the El. And they have the trains. Sure, Salt Lake City had the Olympics. But we've never had any great system of transportation. There is a public bus system that runs between the college campuses of Weber State University and the University of Utah, between downtown Ogden and downtown Salt Lake, between Salt Lake and places to the south . . . and TRAX can take a girl any place she wants to go in Salt Lake and the immediate outlying areas . . . but this is not enough for an unemployed, suburban, licenseless girl who lives in Centerville. Fifteen car-minutes away from the center of the Big City (phrase meant with pure irony) and lifetimes away from anything terribly cultural.

I've spent twenty-two years in this place. Not in this exact place, sitting at the computer and writing these words down, but in the state of Utah. Technically speaking, I suppose I've spent twenty-one years in this house where I slid down the stairs on pillows (but not for the whole twenty-one years, just select parts!) and had my first date (not here! but he had to pick me up from somewhere . . .) and danced around with college acceptance letters. I got so excited about BYU! And then I spent one year there before transferring to Weber State University, before returning to this house, before starting not one-but two-separate relationships with people I knew from a church choir (and both of them failed . . .), before sitting at this computer on this chair, blogging because I have nothing better to do until someone calls with a job offer.

I hope the out-of-state people call back first. It seems like a change of scenery could be awfully helpful.