Megabus Pt. I : Chris

I hit the jackpot! On my five hour bus ride home from NYC, I had the grand fortune of sitting next to, not one but, THREE friendly individuals, who let me pick their life stories apart.

The first one to get the conversation going was 23 year old Maryland native, Chris. It all started when he noticed I was having trouble keeping my Naked Red Machine juice from slipping through the ghetto, bottomless cup-holder in the table. Not wanting to leave a damsel in distress, Chris gallantly whipped out his handy dandy roll of duct tape. Problem solved. 

Physical Description in his own words: 6’3, 210 lbs. Strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, athletic. Could lose a little around the midsections, but athletic nonetheless. Tall, handsome, Jew nose.  Favorite physical feature is my legs. They're powerful, fast, and can do a lot. 

Chris has his Polish and German blood to thank for his very Aryan features. (Haha. A German with a Jew nose.) Although, it never had a huge impact on his day to day upbringing or lifestyle. Maybe on the occasional family gathering. He has a "very Polish uncle," who always drinks honey whiskey at Thanksgiving. I guess if you drink honey whisky, that makes you Polish. But don't let the blonde hair fool you. Chris has never been out of the U.S. and he does not celebrate October Fest. What kind of German are you? 

As ein junges kind, Chris dreamed of being an Air-force pilot. He always played and dabbled with flight simulators. There was just something so fascinating about being in the open skies, and being able to control where you wanted to go. Going faster than light, and of course, all the fire power behind it. Chris currently works in IT for Jaguar Tech as a Systems Engineer. And though his Air-force Piloting dreams seem to have taken a bit of a dive, he has not given up on dreaming altogether.  His dream occupation has become more jovial in nature. Chris can't think of anything that would make him happier than getting paid to do standup comedy. He loves being onstage, and loves to make people laugh. It's kind of his thing.

And who better to cheer you on toward your dreams and laugh at your jokes when no one else thinks they're funny than your loving family. Though Chris's mom passed away from cancer not too long ago, he still has his two older sisters, and his dad. Yes. Chris is the youngest, and he was kind of spoiled. But dad kept him in check. I don't know much about Mom except that she was married once before to some guy named Harry who was hairy everywhere but his head, as the story goes.

When it comes to embarrassing moments in Chris's life, I learned that he has battled with stage fright, and apparently lost a few times. Hmm. Not too promising for our budding comedian. The other time Chris remembers being particularly embarrassed was the time Mom caught him looking at things he shouldn’t have online.  That, or the time a guy professed his love for him (when he knew Chris had a girlfriend). Isn't that how it always goes? One just can't always help who one falls for. 

Even though Chris's life library has its share of stories of the humiliating genre, it has it's share of happy ones as well. Some of his most cherished memories are about his very first bike. Huffy, bright neon green and black, with lights on the front.  "I rode the hell out of that bike... then destroyed it after jumping off a 5 foot ramp."

Things that Make Chris Smile Real Big: 1) Death Cab for Cutie. Or more specifically, Benjamin Gibbard. Thus, Postal Service also makes this list. "He’s this era’s Paul Simon." 2) Exercise. "Nothing better than getting on my bike and going for 20-25 miles." 3) People watching. Watching kids enjoying the simple things in life. (Like candy? JK. Creep much?)  4) Making other people smile. "Seeing other people happy puts a smile on my face." 5) Exotic foods: Sushi, Thai food, Indian Food, Pho, etc.

Chris has been struck by Love's arrow all of three times. The first was with his first girlfriend. That was puppy love. The second was with his high school sweetheart. Apparently, that didn't work out so well because she was very shallow and narrow minded. Finally, there is his current girlfriend. I asked what it was about her that he loved, and here is what he had to say: "I love the way she can think on her own. She's very free thinking.  I love how we’re able to be completely honest with each other, no matter if it's good or bad." Granted, he did not deny that there was also great physical attraction. Chris also mentioned that he treasured the ability to, no matter what day it was, just talk on the phone for an hour, for no reason at all.

If Chris ran into his 16 year old self on the street, he definitely would have pushed himself to go further in secondary education. "I would have given myself a heads up in life."

As the bus dropped Chris off at his stop in Baltimore, me and the Megabus gang wave to our new friend as he makes faces at us from the other side of the window. Thanks for helping us pass the time, Chris. You sure made us smile.