I ride the bus to and from work. It's not because I'm overly socially responsible, it's simply because the bus is free and it picks me up a block from my house, then drops me off a block from my office on campus. Stingy and lazy. Yesterday on the way home I got paired up with Buck, the bus driver. Buck is consistently unfriendly and belligerent. He grunts as I board the bus and rolls his eyes when I show him my University ID (which allows me to ride for free). He honks at cars, flips off crossing pedestrians, and--this could be just my perception, but I doubt it--never acknowledges Asian passengers. Now rudeness I can forgive; road rage I commend; however, if your abrupt stops cause me to lurch forward nauseatingly at every corner, I will bring it. By the time I had travelled the 19 blocks home, I was about ready to vomit. I exited the bus without my typical cheery, "thanks," and immediately dialed the number for the mass transit district. I asked to speak with a supervisor. She put me on hold. After waiting 3 minutes on the phone, Lori arrived home with the kids. Brennan announced that he wouldn't be getting out of the car until I was off the phone (which made me feel like Robin Williams in Hook); this made me giggle and I walked over to the car to see how serious he was. He was serious.
Brennan: Who are you talking to?
Me: The bus company. I had a really bad driver today who almost made me throw up every time he stopped the bus.
Brennan: So you are trying to get him in trouble?
Me: No, I'm trying to give him the opportunity for rehabilitation and improvement.
Brennan: Did anyone get hurt?
Me: Well, no.
Brennan: You don't have to call and tell on him.
Me: No, but I should.
Brennan: Why?
Me: Because...(as I hung up the phone)
Had I stayed on the phone longer not only would I have ended up needlessly busting Buck's chops, Brennan and I may have only found Waldo 10 times, as opposed to the 18 times we did end up finding him. And I must say that searching for the red-and-white-sweater-wearing-Bob-Sagat-look-alike was a worthy alternative to causing tension in the workplace. Today however I sought to restore balance by striking the bus system and walking home from work. I left the office around 9:30pm, followed two ATOs for 4 blocks (seriously, the strong scent of their cologne was more nauseating than 46 blocks with Buck), and by the time I had walked the 19 blocks home, my DSW Johnston Murphy wannabees had given me six blisters. Moral of the story: same as the paucity of nope--Gentzy sucks at being a hard ass. The universe wants me to be a Franz.
Hmmm. Got me thinking about 'w.w.e.d?" (or more accurately now, what would Edgar have done?). He wasn't one to let things go if justice and rightness had been ignored, abused or violated (remember how good he was at picking up the phone and launching into a much-justified rant at times). But he might just as well have spent months determinedly befriending the stinky bus driver, eventually wearing him down into participating in a reluctant semblance of a human relationship. One thing I know for sure - he would have put 'red stuff' on those blisters!
ReplyDeleteInteresting you say that. Just yesterday I rode the bus with Buck again, and I tried to strike up a conversation. We almost got into a good groove until he stopped the bus, opened his door and told all of the people at the stop waiting to board, "sorry, I don't have any room...you'll have to wait for the next one." His bus was half full.
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