I promised I would write about this so here I am. :)
Riding the bus is always a bit of an experience, but once in a while you get a day that is rather unique. When Becky Nadreau was here in the summer, we had more than one of those days! You can ask her, but I think our favorite instance was the elderly man of about 80 flirting with the elderly lady of about 75. The whole bus could hear due to the likelihood that he was rather deaf and felt the need to repeat his amorous lines a few times in case she wasn't clear.
The other day, however, was a slightly different experience. I must confess, it was a bit of a long day as I had to make several journeys on the bus and spent a total of about 3 hours travelling. Being a good Western American I like my wide open spaces and if I have to spend that kind of time driving I'd like it to be open highway at 70 mph. :) Nonetheless, God gave me some humorous intervals beginning with my morning commute to work.
It's always crowded and it seemed to be even more so this morning. About 10 minutes into my journey, a lady with turrettes boarded the bus and sat down by me. I know she can't help it, but bear in mind that these are also English people on the bus. One does NOT talk on the bus. And at regular intervals she was hollering out various profanities. I found it humorous afterwards, but it's embarrassing while it occurs.
On the way back from work, we were invaded by the very loud people talking on their cell phones. It is true you get the occasional person who is inconsiderate and shares their life story with the whole bus. But to get THREE is a bit excessive, and there was a lot of very English eye-rolling and tuts of disapproval. It's not a that it's illegal to talk on your phone on the bus, but it is one of the very important unwritten English rules that one doesn't do it. I must confess to be right in there with the eye rolling. I would LOVE to turn around and actually say something to the phone people but that would cause more disapproval so I just blend in with the English and disapprove silently.
I had a meeting later in the evening and it was on that bus ride that I sat behind two white haired ladies chatting quietly about their neighborhoods, the grocery store and whether this stop was theirs. Or was it the next one? There was a repeat of this at the next stop and it turned out that it was actually the one after THAT which turned out to be their stop. :) And it was as they were shuffling off the bus, I knew I had to record this moment because one of the ladies had completed her very purple old lady outfit with purple fluffy slippers. You know the kind I mean--they go up your ankle and have that quilted look and fluffy purple fake fur poking out the tops.
So after feeling rather put out about exhausting bus trips most of the day, I finally had to smile.
