BUS STORY # 326 (Politics On The Bus)

Image downloaded from the September 20, 2012 post, The Limits Of Politics , from the blog Renew .

It is remarkable to me that in the past six-and-a-half years of riding the bus – years that span two presidential races and one mid-term election – I have heard only four bus conversations that involved politics.

From the get-go, I didn’t want Busboy bringing partisan politics into the blog, no matter how interesting or amusing the story.  At most, I anticipated possibly discussing local issues affecting public transportation.  Fortunately, we’ve had mayors from both sides of the fence supportive of ABQ RIDE.

I can recall all four conversations.  One was a simple partisan observation made out loud by a regular the morning after the 2008 election, to which there was a single partisan response.  Followed by silence all around.

Another was from a woman who told me she worked in an office where her coworkers were divided along the usual lines, and who almost daily argued their views over whatever the morning’s headlines happened to be.  Besides being upsetting and disruptive to her work, she said it was like listening to people who came from two entirely different planets.

The third was more amusing.  A rider used salt and pepper in a cooking analogy, and described the pros and cons of each.  It was clever enough that I might have used it had there not been a bias toward one of the seasonings.

But this past election morning, I overheard a discussion between two older guys in the back of the bus.  This one I feel I can share:

1st rider: “Have you voted yet?”

2nd rider: “Sure have.  I voted early ‘cuz I didn’t want to stand in line.”

1st rider: “I’m still undecided.  But I’m gonna figure out who to vote for by noon.”

2nd rider: “How you gonna do that?”

1st rider: “I’m gonna count commercials. Whoever has the least commercials wins.”

2nd rider: Laughs, then asks, “What’s that gonna tell you?”

1st rider: “It tells me he’s done his job getting his [bunch of malarkey] out there early and doesn’t need to be wasting any more money.”

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The image at the top of this story was downloaded from the September 20, 2012 post, The Limits Of Politics , from the blog Renew .