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What does pollen mean? Sneezing. What does sneezing mean? Germs. What do germs mean? Avoiding people in public spaces. What’s one public space where you really can’t avoid people? The bus. You’re confused already. I’m sorry. I’ll get to the point. Besides being a phenomenal place to “people watch,” public buses have fabric patterns akin to works of art. Check out a photo gallery of public transportation fabrics here. Seriously though, everybody knows what public transportation is for, but how many of us actually use it? That’s what one group of area high school students is trying to change.

Question: What’s going to make Metro Council members Ulysses “Bones” Addison, Lorri Burgess and Darrell Ourso sweat on Friday?

Answer: The bus.

They better do a little nice weather jig because if it’s hot, they’re going to sweat. And if it rains, they’re going to get wet. If it’s snowing pollen, they just might sneeze on each other (or you!). That’s the experience bus riders have and that experience is being mimicked on Friday, March 30 from noon until 4 p.m. The Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s Teens as Leaders program is sponsoring the free “Ride for Change” event, which hopes to stress education and change for the Capital Area Transit System (CATS) through experience. Anyone who wants to experience what it takes to perform errands via the bus is encouraged to attend the event by calling in an RSVP to 381-7135. Thus far, more than 40 people have signed up to ride including the aforementioned council members, Chief of Police Jeff LeDuff, Senate hopeful Jason DeCuir, Baton Rouge Area Chamber officials, representatives from the Mayor’s office and various school board members.

After feeding attendants and dishing out instructions at the CATS central terminal on Florida, participants will board 10 buses and work together to perform various scenarios. No buses have been “designated” for this event and participants will ride buses alongside the day’s riders. For example, participants may have to pretend to be a single mother needing to immunize her child for school registration. That’s a bus ride over to Earl K. Long Medical Center on Airline. (Which bus I won’t say in case you’re going to the event. Can’t cheat now! Can’t cheat!) Once they’ve completed the scenario (or perhaps before if they’ve figured out the routes and schedules) participants determine what bus they need to catch to complete the next scenario. Then they wait, just as other riders wait. Sometimes they sit. Sometimes they don’t. “The bus stops aren’t nice,” says Matt Rist, one of the Teens as Leaders. “Even if there is a seat, which is unlikely, there won’t be room enough for everyone to sit. It’s going to be a pretty humbling experience.”

So besides the free lunch, free bus rides and the possibility of catching Bones’ germs, what’s the point? Well, change, obviously. It ain’t called “Ride for Change” for nothing. But awareness and education foster change. “In some cases, participants may be on the bus for up to 25 minutes,” Rist says. “We’re hoping they get some interaction with people. That’s a big part of it.” If you’ve ever wondered who rides the bus, what their stories are, what it’s like to ride the bus, or what the bus fabric looks like, then Friday’s your lucky day. And you don’t have to ride awkwardly or alone. You’ll be there with at least 40 other participants (and their germs). Maybe you’ll even catch a fever to help make change. Thanks to Matt Rist with Teens as Leaders for talking about the event, BRAC, CATS and everyone else who has made the event possible. Enjoy the ride, folks.