It is official: I am a Tucsonan now. I deserve to be called Tucsonan after getting to know Tucson intimately by being lucky enough to get around it by taking the bus.

Yeah, that is right, the bus. My first time it was intimidating. The thought of sitting with a bunch of strangers gave me goose bumps but as time went on, I looked forward to it...well, not all the time.

I usually sat near the bus driver. Some of them started to tell their day to me, as if we were best friends.

One bus driver completely ignored me in the bus stop, "forgetting" me behind. Oh boy was I upset. Within seconds, I called the bus telephone line and there I was,reporting a complaint. It is my right to be picked up! Don't you dare allow me to be late to work! No worries, the following bus was there within minutes.

When waiting for a bus to me was like Linus waiting for the big pumpkin to arrive on Halloween night. At times I felt like a kid waiting for her big present to arrive. Getting there at the bus at the nick of time was another rush. Imagine my disappointment when I would be walking down the street and see my bus pulling out. In my head, I was screaming like Charlie Brown.

Some bus stops have a metal bench and cover against hot or cold weather. Other bus stops are in need of help. I don't know which is worse: sitting on a cold stone bench at 7:30am for 15 minutes makes you-know-what really really cold or standing by a bus stop without any shade being well cooked under the sun.

Never mind walking up to the bus stop and being showered with sand. I started showering twice a day, before I go to work and after. It is disgusting the amount of dirt that comes off in the cotton ball when I clean my face with toner at the end of the day. And if you see shyness in my hair, don't think it is glitter, it is sand.

Desert sand, Tucson sand, to me it is just like Egypt's sand. Tucson streets have a lot of sand and peebles, something I did not notice when driving my private car. Some portions of Tucson streets, when switching bus stops have no sidewalks. My shoes get all sandy and my feet...well, let's not go there.

And the people in the bus are as diverse as food. Never seen so many Native Americans as I have seen them in the bus. And of course,smelly people. I sat behind two guys at separate times that their smell invaded my private sphere, my nose. The alcohol was so strong, I had to move my seat. No damage done.

But, in the middle of all this chaos, I loved taking the bus. Absolutely loved it because every time I took the bus, it gave me and other bus riders the opportunity to do random acts of kindness.

I especially helped moms that would come into the bus with two children, one in the baby seat, and a stroller in another hand in a fully crowded bus. Moms are my favorite people to help.

A guy helped a mom come down the bus and open her stroller and the bus driver waited until she was set to go. These and many others are the kindness you will not see reported in the news.

And it is ok not to see in the news: we do it because it makes us feel really good at the end of the day.

Tucson people are gracious and I am glad to have taken the bus. I forgive that bus driver that gave me a sand shower. Forgive but not forget.

And I am also happy to finally have bought my car. Now I am able to sleep an extra hour. To all the Tucson bus drivers out there, know that what you do is appreciated by many of us riders every day.