BUS STORY # 412 (Shorts 36)

"Bus Ad,"  © All Rights Reserved, by Susie.

***

I board, and I notice the bowl of cereal in the driver’s lap. With milk in it, and a spoon. I swipe my badge, take a seat, and think, “My driver’s not texting.”

***

Sitting next to me on the Rapid heading for UNM this morning: a young woman going through homemade flash cards with diagrams of chemical reactions.

***

I watch the guy board, walk to the back, go up the steps to the rear platform, spot an empty bench seat between two other riders, walk up to that seat, stop, lean over and inspect it closely, then turn around and sit. New to Albuquerque, I think. But not to riding the bus in someplace like, say, San Francisco Spokane.

***

We’ve pulled up to the route turnaround. The driver opens the doors, takes the measure of the trash can sitting outside the doors beside the bus stop sign, then pulls a wad of gum out of his mouth. He shoots. He scores!

***

We get to the intersection of Central and Louisiana, and the articulated bus brakes abruptly in mid-bend. A pedestrian, on a cell, started across the street against the light, in front of the turning bus. He had the phone in his left hand, which put his left arm up in such a position that it may have blocked the turning bus out of his peripheral vision. Still, he was crossing against the light and the flow of traffic. Either a case of distracted pedestrian or the-world-stops-for-me jaywalker. Either way, the bus driver has just extended the temporary survival of one of Darwin’s less-than-fittest.

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The photo at the top of this story is titled “Bus Ad,” © All Rights Reserved, and is posted with the permission of Susie. You can see Susie’s photostream on Flickr here.