On The Bus

For a number of years now I've been using public transportation quite a bit. Where I live this means either the bus or the train. For the most part the ride is quiet and uneventful. Sometimes, however, noteworthy events occur. Here are the stories of some of the interesting things which I've experienced on the bus.

On one occasion an elderly gentleman struck up a conversation with me. The day was hot. One or the other of us mentioned something about global warming, as people often do on such days. At that point the elderly gentleman informed me quite clearly that "the whole thing started when they put that big mirror up in space." I was, I think quite naturally, curious about which mirror he meant. After asking some questions, I determined that he was talking about the mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope. As a side note, I should mention that large telescopes used for scientific purposes don't have lenses; they have mirrors. I informed the gentleman that the mirror on the Hubble was only about two meters across.* He looked at me quizzically, as if to ask whether I was trying to make some point. I almost immediately realized that the man was not familiar with the metric system of measurements. I then told him that two meters was about the same as a little over six feet. He then assured me that the mirror he was talking about was definitely miles across. He was quite forceful on this point. I decided not to argue with him. After a while he reached his stop, and, cane in hand, walked off the bus.

Another time I was present when a drunk woman had to be forcibly removed from the bus by the driver. This shouldn't have been a problem, since the drunken passenger was a rather small woman, whereas the driver was a rather large (and obviously quite strong) woman. Still, the small drunk passenger fought the driver with great ferocity, yelling and screaming the entire time. Some kicking and biting may have occurred. At some point the drunk passenger found herself standing (or rather, reeling) on the curb. At the same time the driver was speaking into her radio, I imagine to an operator, dispatcher, or somebody like that. While this was going on the drunken former passenger began to scream obscenities at the driver. Just at the time when the driver was finishing her radio communication, the woman on the curb found an empty vodka bottle and hurled it through the open door of the bus, directly at the driver. The driver managed to avoid being hit, and I think the vodka bottle shattered against something near her. At any rate the driver was not injured. Still, we all had to get off the bus and wait for either a replacement or the next bus going in our direction. In the mean time, the police arrived and escorted the drunken former passenger, who was still screaming obscenities, to their squad car. I imagine she was at least charged with some minor crime.

One day I was riding home on the bus when I saw, seated a little ahead of me, one of my professors from college. My time at the university where he taught was about ten years prior to this particular day. Still, I remembered his name and the course which he taught in which I was a student. It was a course concerning international diplomacy. His name isn't important. I decided to approach him and start a conversation, if he seemed willing. I sat across from him on the bus, caught his eye and said hello. At first he seemed slightly frightened. Maybe he was worried that I was a panhandler or some sort of missionary. Then I said his name, told him mine, and told him the name of the course which he taught which I had taken some years before that day. Then suddenly he became delighted. He seemed very excited that he had made such a deep impression on a student who had only taken one course years ago, and who not only remembered his name, but also some of the details of the course material. I was careful not to mention that even though his teaching style was very engaging, the material was rather dull. I've seen him occasionally since that day. He always remembers me (though not my name), and we always exchange at least a few pleasant words.

On still another occasion, I was riding the bus on my way to see a doctor. After a while I realized that some women seated behind me were carrying on an excited conversation about certain, shall we say, sexual matters. It was clear from their conversation that they already knew one another. After a while they began speaking quite graphically about the size of this or that, the funny thing that happened that one time, the important thing they forgot about that other time, and so on. I think you get the idea. All the while they were laughing hysterically as they recalled and recounted these various events and people. I became somewhat embarrassed and tried not to listen. This was impossible, though, because they had become at that point quite loud and quite explicit in their descriptions. Even the driver, a middle-aged man, began laughing at some point. There were no other passengers on the bus except for me and this group of five or six women. At one point I looked behind myself and confirmed what I already strongly suspected, consequently becoming even more embarrassed. All of the women were at least sixty years of age, a few of them obviously quite a bit older.

At many times on the bus I've had the opportunity to speak with various people about various matters, ranging from politics, books, religion and so forth, to things much more mundane such as the care of pets, how to avoid missing the bus, etc. A few times I've helped pregnant women or older people get off or on the bus, and a few other times I've helped some people in wheelchairs to get situated safely. Most of these events and conversations have been quite ordinary and even at times very interesting.

I hope you have enjoyed these few stories I've told. Somehow I feel that these experiences have, on the whole, enriched my life in some way.

*The mirror on the Hubble Space Telescope is actually 2.4 meters across, equivalent to almost 8 feet (more precisely, 7.87 feet).

Hans Bricker