BUS STORY # 161 (Shorts 12)

In last week’s Bus Story, I wrote “Paris Hilton isn’t roving my neighborhood, but at least one coyote is ...” Turns out Paris is roving my neighborhood after all. And I’m much more likely to encounter her again than I am my coyote. You just have to expect the unexpected, I guess.

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Back on June 7, This Week's Feature linked to a May 31 story in Parade Magazine:

Thanks to a little-known policy at the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the guy sitting next to you on the bus could be a convicted felon. As part of a cost-cutting program, the BOP allows more than 25,000 prisoners each year to ride unescorted and unannounced between federal correctional facilities. At least 50 have escaped, including a drug dealer who is now considered armed and dangerous. Parade article

Here is a challenge to that article posted June 1 on the blog of a former Greyhound bus driver:

Recently, there has been an alarmist article that has been making the print media and the Internet. The claim is, The Federal Bureau of Prisons is permitting convicts to transfer themselves between facilities . . . While the article is compelling, it blurs the facts. Badly. Greyhounder response

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He arrives at the Rapid Ride station carrying a plastic bag. He looks up at the time. “Whoa. One minute.” He pulls a 16-ounce can of Keystone Light out of the sack, then a Big Gulp cup with a straw in it. He sets the Big Gulp on the bench, then pops the can. Foam spews everywhere. “Damn.” He sets the can down on the bench, shakes the suds off both hands, then pries the top off the Big Gulp. He pours the beer into the Big Gulp, presses the cup top back on, straightens the straw. He sets the cup down, picks up the can. He looks around, looks up at the time, looks around again. Then he tosses the can back into the plastic sack. The bus arrives. He boards with his plastic sack and his Big Gulp.

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At a Central Avenue bus stop east of Louisiana, a woman is standing on the edge of the sidewalk. With her left hand, she is aggressively signaling she is hitchhiking. With her right, she is incredulously signaling to each passing car, “Why aren’t you picking me up?”

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 Thanks to JM in Brooklyn for this week's feature story: Last Week In: London.