BUS STORY # 478 (Dog Is My Co-rider)

Downloaded from A Geek in the Wilderness

We’re just a few stops out of the turnaround when a woman boards the bus with a dog on a leash. It is not marked as a service dog. Perhaps it is a “support” dog. That would fit with the woman, a thirty-something trim honey blonde wearing a nice T-shirt and nice jeans.

The dog, a Heinz 57 with Boxer in his ears and German Shepherd in his snout, is clearly a youngster, with all the insatiable curiosity and inability to hold still that comes with that age.

The driver says something to her, and a brief conversation ensues. I can’t hear any of it, and I’m wondering if the driver is telling her dogs aren’t allowed on the city buses.

Maybe the conversation has nothing at all to do with dogs. When they have finished talking, the woman starts down the aisle.The dog jumps up on the bench seat to her right. The woman pulls him down off the bench. She pushes him into the space between the bench seat and the first forward-facing row, then takes the window seat.

She is trying to get the dog to lie down. He lies down, for about five seconds. Then he’s back up and looking at all the unexplored territory behind him.

Three men board at the next stop. As each passes by, the dog has to be restrained hard to keep him from checking them out. The second man veers away and extends a “down-boy” stiff arm in the dog’s direction. The dog doesn’t even land a sniff.

The bus was almost empty at the turnaround. But I know it’s going to fill right up as we get closer into town. I’m remembering an earlier dog-on-the-bus story from when I first began riding. It wasn’t a happy story, and I am worried about how this one is going to turn out.

Another stop, another two riders. The woman has both hands on the dog’s harness. He tries to meet the new riders, but he is now more contained. But in between stops, he’s given a little more latitude, a bit of the aisle. He wants more.

And then, a few stops later, she and the dog head for the front door. A teenager is boarding, and when he sees the exuberant dog, he backs up against the handrail and pulls his arms up. I can’t tell if he’s alarmed or just having fun. The woman and dog pass by him and out to the sidewalk without incident.

This is all the adventure I need for this bus trip, thank you.

__________


The photo credit link is worth checking out for the short post that accompanies the photo. The post even refers to “a bus trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico.” Nice post.