As a group of the new wave of journalists from USC's Annenberg graduate program returned to campus chattering away about the sites, sounds, and experiences of their first immersion assignment, the first stop each made was for a thorough handwash and a dash of sanitizer.
Not only did students get an opportunity to visit various areas of Los Angeles each with their own rich history and story lines, but many also experienced the easily accessible public transportation of the city for the first time.
While holding onto a rail inside a bus or grabbing one of the hanging straps may require an extra trip to the sink, the invaluable stories that can be unearthed while on a short journey between destinations are worth the sacrifice of temporary cleanliness.
Despite only a short trip downtown and a return trip on the DASH system later, one group of students talked to a number of interesting patrons of public transportation, including one immigrant who discussed his Chinatown experience.
"When I first came [to Los Angeles] from Mexico, [Chinatown] was the first place I lived," he said. "I really loved it there. The food was amazing."
What might have been more interesting would have been knowing why this Mexican immigrant chose to live in Chinatown, but alas, the brevity of bus trips can make it difficult to get the entire background of a story.
Sometimes, however, they can be long enough to find out a wealth of knowledge about a person and his or her life.
For example, Steven Thomas, a 53-year old evangelist, talked to a couple of students on the way to the jewelry district of Downtown, where he planned to look at some watches. Thomas's intriguing story started in Louisiana, where he was born, and weaved its way through Colorado, where he was stationed in the military and his 31-year old daughter still resides; Vietnam, where he served his country; and El Camino College and Crenshaw Christian Ministry, where he spent many nights during a 10-year span taking classes.
He told of the past, where Thomas said he wasted much time and opportunity, including getting fired from a job a mere 75 days short of his 20th anniversary with the company due to his use of crack cocaine. He also talked about the present, which Thomas finds himself savoring every day as he voraciously reads newspapers while doing research on the city of Los Angeles, including the overpopulation issues the city faces. And he spoke about the future where Thomas sees himself being a service to the community and the world, possibly hitting the evangelical scene in 2011.
While every rider may not be as open to expelling information forth, like Thomas, students were able to see that riding a bus can be a viable option to finding a story.
Ed Fuentes, a graphic artist and muralist who also is the Arts & Culture editor for blogdowntown, is a regular on the bus who finds it is great tool to use for finding and researching stories as well as the most convienient method of travel both timely and financially.
"One day I did the same errands/destinations by car, and it cost me $30 in parking...for five stops," he said.
Fuentes also added: "I think everyone has a story. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper. Often its a combination of things, where they are, what they do, and knowing the back story of environment."
Then again sometimes it doesn't even take talking to someone for a story to pop up.
"A few weeks ago, I was riding on the E DASH and saw a crowd over the 110 on 7th," Fuentes said. "'Movie extras?' I thought, until I saw they were watching a man threatening to jump from the Wilshire overpass."
Despite not seeing anything as dramatic as a suicide atttempt, the students did find stories on their bus trek and the subsequent exploring done on the streets. More importantly, they found a tool that can be used daily and that getting their hands a little dirty isn't always a bad thing.
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