BUS STORY # 141 (Shorts 10)

We’re threading the orange barrels on San Mateo when a rider near the front exclaims, “It’s been months now, and I swear, there’s more and more of those things every day. I think they’re prolifigating overnight.”

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We’ve just exited the Rapid Ride and are crossing Central with the light. It’s early afternoon and the traffic is heavy. There’s a student out ahead of me. He’s almost to the other side when I hear the screech of brakes, see him do this little jump-freeze, then see the front end of a pickup jerk to a stop inside the crosswalk. The student stands there for a few seconds and looks at the truck. I can’t tell if he’s giving the driver the mal ojo or if he just doesn’t trust the driver to stay stopped. The truck would have taken him out like a bowling pin. A bicyclist whizzes past me in the crosswalk. When he reaches the truck, his right hand shoots out an accusatory finger at the driver. “No respect!” he shouts out. His voice is loud and powerful. “No respect!” he repeats before reaching the sidewalk and moving down Yale. The student resumes his crossing before I catch up with him, but we both keep a wary eye on the tinted windshield of the pickup.

*** 

I’m sitting in the seat facing the rear door on the Rapid Ride when it pulls up to the San Mateo stop. The doors pop open. No one exits through this set of doors. Outside in front of me, a woman is looking east. She’s got long black hair, a long black T-shirt, and black workboots. She turns and looks directly at me. She looks bored and tired. Then she flashes me the peace sign. I grin and nod my head. She grins back. Her grin widens into a big smile and her eyes come alive. The doors close. Weird. But kinda wonderful.

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Two weeks ago, I posted a story which featured an online bus slogan generator. I also invited readers to play with the message generator and send me their favorites with the promise that, if I received enough submissions that made me laugh, I’d feature them in a future posting. The future is now. I got a whopping four submissions, all from the same person who prefers to be credited as "anonymous." Here’s the one that made busboy laugh:

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 The photo at the top of this story is posted with the kind permission of justindc. You can see this and all justindc's photos on Flickr at: www.flickr.com/photos/justindc/119143951/