Fun and Games on the Morning Bus
Ah, there's nothing like a little morning ride on Muni to make one want to turn around, go back home and crawl under the covers.. My first bus route to this new job takes me through Chinatown and the second bus I transfer to takes me through the General Assistance Hotel Row! I don't know what's worse.... Having to find myself first thing in the morning sitting next to old Chinese women carrying pink bags full of some goddam stinky conch shell fish and dried moldy-looking funghi or sitting next to the dregs of society that haven't seen a bar of soap for what seems like more than a year!
This morning the second bus was really late, and a whole bunch of people had piled up at the bus stop, pacing, fuming and continually stepping off the curb to look for the non-existent bus coming down the street. Finally, it arrives, and we all pile on, some of us making it to a seat and most not. For a brief moment, I feel lucky to get a seat... but then realize that several people are jammed up against my knees, standing and hanging onto the overhead strap, and I have a perfect view and NOSE-WHIFF of UNDERARMS! Peeeeeeuuuuuuuu!!! And God forbid if part of your body or belongings dare TOUCH the passenger next to you, as you get this 'GET OUTTA MY SPACE!' look as they angrily pull themselves away from you, like they are going to get cooties. And funny how it's always the ones that seem to HAVE cooties that do this!
We had a doozy this morning however. A huge black guy with dirt-matted dreadlocks and dirt-encrusted clothing gets on with crutches. That's bad enough on a crowded bus. But this guy decides to sit near the front (which is ok), but then extends his crutches and his long broken leg that is in a filthy dirty cast waaaaaay out right in the middle of the aisle (which is not ok) which causes everyone to trip as they are getting on and off the bus. To make matters worse, he decides to vocalize his displeasure with life and moans and gripes ALL the way down Polk Street how he has GANGRENE in his foot and on his way to General Assistance to pick up his $29 assistance check! Some other guy with a skateboard and surfer-dude sunglasses who is standing down toward the middle of the bus starts talking back to the crutch dude, telling him to shut up, and then starts mocking him by singing "Walk Like a Man... la la la, tum tum de dum,"...! Well, Mr. Crutch does not find that at all amusing and he shouts something back, drooling in the process! So now we have a loud, verbal fight going on back and forth between Mr. Skateboard and Mr. Crutch with people crammed sardine-like in between them. The IPod people and the Newstalk Radio people (like myself) find we cannot even hear one word or song on our earphones, as we are drowned out by the curfuffle going on with these two characters.
Finally, when we arrived at the bus stop where I get out, I had to push and shove my way through the masses and hop-scotch over Mr. Crutch's crutches to get to the exit, where I then was finally popped out of the bus like burnt toast from a toaster!
Wow, what a wonderful way to start the day......!
This morning the second bus was really late, and a whole bunch of people had piled up at the bus stop, pacing, fuming and continually stepping off the curb to look for the non-existent bus coming down the street. Finally, it arrives, and we all pile on, some of us making it to a seat and most not. For a brief moment, I feel lucky to get a seat... but then realize that several people are jammed up against my knees, standing and hanging onto the overhead strap, and I have a perfect view and NOSE-WHIFF of UNDERARMS! Peeeeeeuuuuuuuu!!! And God forbid if part of your body or belongings dare TOUCH the passenger next to you, as you get this 'GET OUTTA MY SPACE!' look as they angrily pull themselves away from you, like they are going to get cooties. And funny how it's always the ones that seem to HAVE cooties that do this!
We had a doozy this morning however. A huge black guy with dirt-matted dreadlocks and dirt-encrusted clothing gets on with crutches. That's bad enough on a crowded bus. But this guy decides to sit near the front (which is ok), but then extends his crutches and his long broken leg that is in a filthy dirty cast waaaaaay out right in the middle of the aisle (which is not ok) which causes everyone to trip as they are getting on and off the bus. To make matters worse, he decides to vocalize his displeasure with life and moans and gripes ALL the way down Polk Street how he has GANGRENE in his foot and on his way to General Assistance to pick up his $29 assistance check! Some other guy with a skateboard and surfer-dude sunglasses who is standing down toward the middle of the bus starts talking back to the crutch dude, telling him to shut up, and then starts mocking him by singing "Walk Like a Man... la la la, tum tum de dum,"...! Well, Mr. Crutch does not find that at all amusing and he shouts something back, drooling in the process! So now we have a loud, verbal fight going on back and forth between Mr. Skateboard and Mr. Crutch with people crammed sardine-like in between them. The IPod people and the Newstalk Radio people (like myself) find we cannot even hear one word or song on our earphones, as we are drowned out by the curfuffle going on with these two characters.
Finally, when we arrived at the bus stop where I get out, I had to push and shove my way through the masses and hop-scotch over Mr. Crutch's crutches to get to the exit, where I then was finally popped out of the bus like burnt toast from a toaster!
Wow, what a wonderful way to start the day......!
posted by LADYGOLD at 4:40 PM
