Cube with a blocked view.

diary of a bus rider

Ya know, my parents worry about me. Can you blame them? Their daughter, the baby of the family, is alone in the big, bad city. I have a mortgage (gasp!) and various other bills.

Now, let's consider what they aren't aware of. Public transportation. Sure, they know I take public transportation. They're blissfully unaware of the elements of the city that spill onto the bus. Take Friday for example... I get to the Transit centre and surprise surprise, there's one of the buses I can take sitting there waiting - never happens. So I rush over and climb on, taking one of the front seats, near someone sleeping. Normal enough, right?

Well, further investigation of said sleeper shwed that he....hmmm... well, his fly was open. I'm starting to get a little concerned at this point and I glance around to see where empty seats are. Then a breeze floats through the bus bringing me the scent of alcohol. All right, maybe this isn't some normal commuter - so I move. The lady in the seat across from me smiles and nods knowingly and I realize I"ve made the correct decision.

That's confirmed when he starts yelling, yep, yelling, in his sleep. So I breathe a sigh of relief that I'd moved and settle into my new seat comfortably. Well, before long, our bus driver is joined by a transit official... a large, bouncer-ish transit official, who boards the bus and removes the drunk for us.

But really, that was nothing compared to today. That's just an amusing tale to share over wine. Today, a monsoon hit Edmonton right around quitting time. I got a bit damp on the way to the bus stop, and waiting in the shelter for a bus. When it came, I picked a seat toward the back, hoping I'd be lucky enough to spend the trip alone.

Seconds later, I notice my arm is getting wetter. Yep, the bus had a leak, so I moved. The bus had more than one leak. Significantly more than one leak. I managed to avoid most of them and turned to look out the front of the bus. And I thought to myself, "funny, it wasn't foggy when I got on the bus...." Then I realized it still wasn't foggy outside. But our bus was bobbing and weaving through rush hour traffic... with very, VERY foggy windows.

ah well, the bus is bigger than anything else on the roads, I feel safe.

posted by Erin @ 5:18 PM