Electric Night Ride
Every year over Labor Day weekend, there is a Greek festival hosted at a Greek Orthodox church in downtown Columbus. My “sisters” and I went multiple times in our childhood, and Kid and I have continued the tradition since the other girls moved away. This year, one of the friends that Kid made in California over the summer was in town with her boyfriend, and they stayed at Kid and Paige's place. I knew that Kid and her friend were going on Saturday, September 2nd, and I was planning on meeting up with them.
September 1st is my cousin Austin’s birthday, so my Aunt and Uncle flew to Pittsburgh to celebrate, and my parents and brother joined them. I stayed at my parents' house and watched our cat, Sammi. At 6:30 on the night of the 2nd, I ordered a Lyft so that I could drink at the festival if I wanted to.
As I walked into the festival Paige (who was doing homework) texted me and told me that Kid and her friend had made it back to the apartment. I had missed them! Fine, I thought to myself, I can have fun by myself! I don’t need anyone. I knew I was lying to myself. It’s not that I don’t enjoy my alone time, but I definitely enjoy time with people more!
By 8:00, I was ready to go. I decided to walk to a nearby bar called Brother’s because it was far enough away from the festival that it would be easy to find the Lyft. However, there was construction on my route. With my original plan foiled, I decided to take the bus. The closest bus stop I knew was the Nationwide building. When I looked at the schedule, I realized that there wouldn’t be one for 40 minutes! I was a bit angry at this point, but that wouldn't last long.
As I looked around, I saw a Lime scooter right next to the bus stop. I knew the bus route back to my parents' house by heart and thought this would be a fun adventure. I got on the Scooter and began riding down the street. The scooter was working at first, but after one block or so, but then I entered a “no ride” zone that lasted for the entirety of the OSU campus. With a ton of perseverance and honestly a little more effort than it was worth, I made it through the “no ride” zone and was allowed to take full advantage of the electric scooter's capabilities.
I was in the bike lane for the entire time I was on the road, but there were still some drivers who were experiencing road rage. It was getting dark, so to stay safe, I took a detour through the local library parking lot, past the tennis courts, and down some side streets. When I passed the tennis courts, I saw my childhood neighbor Melody and her new fiancé Rob. I rode up to them, they asked me what I was doing, and I explained the situation.
“Wait, you rode that thing all the way from downtown?” Melody asked, with a look of shock on her face.
“Yep!” I said.
“Wow, that's impressive,” Rob said.
After saying goodbye to them, I continued my journey home. As I was about to reach my destination, I thought about how shocked Melody and Rob had been. I decided that I had, in fact, reached my goal for the night. No one was with me, and yet I still managed to have a fun night and an impressive adventure to add to my resume!
Have a Greattastic day and be safe
J. Mitchie Ulibarri
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