BUS STORY # 342 (Shorts 29)

Kid Graffiti, a photo by busboy4 on Flickr.

Today is a free ride day on this particular bus.  It seems the till isn’t working.  The driver has wedged some papers in the slot to keep riders from inserting their bills.  If you’ve got a pass, that part of the system is working fine.  But if all you have is cash, sorry: you gotta ride for free.

***

Typical young high schooler, black hoodie, jeans, athletic shoes, backpack between his feet. Head down, focused on what he’s working in his hands. Only it’s not a playlist or texting or the web. He’s working a Rubik’s Cube. Dude, that’s your father’s toy! And it just might be. The cube is worn. Some of the squares look like the color is curling back from the corners. He’s working it like he knows what he’s doing: a series of quick turns between brief study pauses. He’s a good way through getting one side orange when he shoves the relic in his pocket and gets ready for his stop.

***

Something white fluttering to the floor catches my eye. It’s a paper napkin.  I can’t tell if the woman it came from dropped it by accident or threw it there.  She’s focused on wrapping up whatever she was eating in its foil packaging.  She’s either oblivious to having lost the napkin, or doing a splendid job of appearing oblivious.  The man behind her, a 30-something guy in a coat and tie, looks at the napkin, then at the back of her head.  I read from his expression that he’s trying to sort it out, too.  He waits to see if she’s gonna pick it up.  Finally, he leans over, picks it up, then offers it to her.  She looks at it for a moment, then takes it and stuffs it into her purse. She doesn’t say a word.

***

Overheard on the bus the Wednesday after Super Bowl Sunday:
“Hey, who made it to the Super Bowl?”
“San Francisco and the Baltimore Ravens.”
“San Francisco, all right! When do they play?”
“Dude, they played last Sunday.”
“They already played? Who won?”
“The Ravens. By four.”*
“Oh, man! I was pullin’ for Montana.”

__________


*You and I know the Ravens actually won by three. The same rider also reported the score at the half was “21 to 7.” But he nailed the game day, the winner, and he let Montana ride. He gets a pass from me.