So, as an adult, I think of the city bus as an extension of the school bus. Until recently, I had never been on the city bus except to take the free rides to the state fair. The fair bus has air conditioning and is clean and always has enough seats for everyone. I just assumed all buses were like this. I was wrong.
With the rising gas prices and crazy parking costs downtown where I work, I decided to try the bus. The bus stop is across the street from my house and drops me off 2 short blocks from my work. It only takes about 7 minutes longer to get to work and is so much more relaxing than fighting traffic and looking for a place to park.
It's been a real experience to say the least. I should start by saying I live in the inner city. I am an average middle class white woman in her 30's. I am an RN at a county hospital. It's very culturally diverse, both the patients and the staff. The majority of our patients are poor and/or uninsured. Many are mentally ill, homeless, drug addicts, scam artists, gang members etc. I have seen and heard most everything. But the people on the bus take it to a whole new level. They are loud, have no manners and no shame.
I was riding home recently and could hear one guy on his phone. Everyone could hear him because he was SO LOUD! Every few words out of his mouth included F--this and F--that. He was complaining about his job and how they changed his hours and it didn't work with his other job, his band. He was talking about this for about 20 minutes. The other person on the phone was not saying much because this guy was constantly talking. And, I really don't care what kind of language adults use in the presence of other adults but there were at least 3 small kids on the bus that this guy could clearly see. Hopefully, the kids didn't hear him. Yeah right! They always know what they shouldn't be saying. Anyway, the funny part of this story is that just before he got off the bus, he ended his conversation, "ok Ma, my stop is coming up. I love you too mom" What!?! He was talking to his mother!
The bus is always full, doesn't matter what time you ride, it's always full. Usually there are enough seats but there are times people have to stand. Recently, this guy sat down next to me and was talking to the person across the aisle (who got on at the same time and they were talking as they got on the bus). All of a sudden he starts wiggling around in his seat, swinging his arms while telling a story. I guess the cramped bus is the best place to re-enact a recent fight you were in.
Another day, I could hear a girl talking about her upcoming jail sentence. Apparently she already served some of the time but now has to go back and finish up the rest of it. She asked the guy she was talking to what he was going to do now and he said he had to go "take care of some bid-ness" (business). Then he asked her where she was going and she said she was going to meet "some people" and take care of her own "bid-ness". Maybe jail will be good for her.
I could fill this entire blog with stories from the bus, but sometimes they are just more appalling when you see it first hand. So, the excitement of riding the bus has worn off after only about 2 weeks. I bet the school bus would have been more fun.
The one nice thing I have consistently noticed is that whenever someone disabled gets on the bus people automatically give up their seat. I guess they do have some manners...
