Sunday, March 4, 2018

On the bus


As I was coming home on the 14 bus the other day, a man with a strange glint in his eye invited me to a party this Sunday at a church downtown. He was sure that I'd get along with so-and-so, and so I must come. I gave the requisite polite eye-contact while, largely, letting him speak at length about this must-be-attended event. When there was a break in his monologue, I whispered a "thank you" and averted my eyes. I had survived the uncomfortable bus talk that can sometimes happen when people who are slightly unhinged happen to be sitting near you. I few blocks later, he began an even greater oration directed at all the back-of-the-bus passengers about the church party, and, incidentally(?), about his former life in showbiz and subsequent downward spiral into drug use and general nuttiness. One block later I was off the bus and walking, unmolested, toward my building. To be fair, this sort of behavior is tame compared to what one sometimes experiences on the 14. I consider myself and the other passengers lucky.

9 comments:

  1. I rode the bus across town the first semester I was in college. I listened to some interesting drama. When I moved into a dorm, the same interesting drama.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am an 'unusual' person magnet on the bus. And have learned some amazing things. And heard some incredible tales. Some true, some probably only true in the storyteller's head.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If rather be friendly person magnet, tbh. I just try to keep my head down on the 14.

      Delete
    2. PS: what is up with my fingers? Excuse the typos!

      Delete
  3. Ah yes, the "interesting" people...

    ReplyDelete

A piece of your mind here:

Wood/Driftwood

Bartie in the yard. Backyard horse, Palo Alto Ocean Beach after a recent storm. Wild wood in Golden Gate Park The most I've 'made...