Sage Advice

A few people get off The Vanpool within the first few blocks after the Lincoln Tunnel. I always move up to the front to make it easier for people to get out.

This also gives me a chance to sit behind John Krazinski's Uncle, who usually rides shotgun. He, like most everyone else on The Vanpool, is incredibly likable, despite being a lawyer at a big firm in the city.

He's the kind of guy who doesn't just seem to know everything; he has a good take on everything. He frequently dispels sage advice on all sorts of subjects right before I leave The Vanpool. Usually it's about oil spill, investing or college basketball. But sometimes it's a little more metaphysical.

"You know, I don't know what they're trying to tell me, Charlie. The bus driver never asks to see my ID when I hand him my senior citizen bus ticket," he says.

"Senior citizen," I ask, playfully. "I would have thought you were about 28 or 30."

He laughs. Then there's a plaintitve pause.

"In some ways, it's a lot easier being a senior citizen than it is being your age," he says. "In a lot of ways, actually."

There's another pause.

Claire, the Asian woman who listens to "How-to-Speak English" tapes non-stop chimes in.

"That's true. That's very true."

We pull up to the corner and I get off.