Sunday, February 19, 2012

Escaping Death

Chillin at the bus stop one morning, I see a car drive past and flip a u-turn. No biggie. Ya, no biggie until he pulled up and stopped in front of me at the bus stop on busy grant road.

"Hey, hop in."

"Excuse me?" Did I just hear that right?

"Hop in."

"No...thank you. I'm just waiting for the bus."

What the. Not sure if I should be polite in my decline or confused or call the police. He didn't look too dangerous, but creepy molesters don't always look the part. Did I know him? Definitely not. Luckily he drove off immediately. Did he really think I would get in his car?? The more I thought about it, the more I realized he was definitely a creepy molester trying to abduct me. I know there has been someone in town abducting 13 year olds from bus stops, but I didn't exactly fit that description...mostly.

Then the ride home was eventful as well. I was reading one of the many Scarpetta books from Claudia's bookshelf and a man with no teeth asked me if it was a Scarpetta book. We began a sophisticated conversation about Patricia Cornwell books, as he was a fan. Another man jumped in the conversation agreeing how much he enjoyed Patricia Cornwell. This particular book, Unnatural Exposure, was written in 1997 and a big focus is America Online (AOL if you will) and chat rooms. Remember those? heh. Our flash back convo stopped suddenly when my attention diverted to one of my good friends, Drunk and Disorderly, as he got on the bus. This time he was sporting a killer mullet and a few missing teeth. Nice to see he's been doing well.

I wasn't surprised when another over-sized gentleman carrying a handle of vodka became his immediate friend, while others were scrambling to sacrifice their seats by moving to the opposite side of the bus (due to the smell).

The overwhelming fun of the ride came to a stop when it was time to get off. I joyfully jumped out the back door and heard a very concerned yelp. I turned to my right and my life flashed before my eyes because a gentleman on a bicycle swerved to not hit me and crashed into the curb. We both apologized profusely.

It was time to get home. I escaped death twice that day.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Recognized

I think the bus driver has a crush on me.

So I get on the bus today and he goes "I missed you yesterday."

"I uh, I'm pretty sure I was there. Maybe. Or maybe not. Uh. I don't remember." As I blushed really really embarrassed like.

I realized he was right. I had a haircut so I went on a different route. He totally knows me. He knows what time I ride and which stop I get on. I even wear different coats every day. I'm also not friendly. I slide my card, don't make eye contact with the driver (or anyone), don't say hello, NOT friendly.

Then I started thinking about the previous times I spoke with this particular driver, who I had not even noticed was the usual driver because of the infrequency I looked at the driver. But there was this one time that I worked late and got on the bus much later than usual. He apparently had made the round trip back around to pick up at that stop again. And there I was. He definitely made a comment about how it wasn't my usual time. I replied about working late or something. I thought it was odd that he knew my schedule, but didn't dwell too much besides thinking "oh great, I'm a usual." If he was a restaurant server, that would be totally cool. I'd be more like a regular. And he'd be like "the usual?" But no. It's the city bus. And his profession is city bus driver. Not awesome. Although there is this running joke that my Dad will bring up every time he possibly can. When I was younger, I said I wanted to be a bus driver when I grew up (jokingly duh) and he told me not to set my sights so high. Har har har!

"I missed you yesterday." Every time I say it I get more creeped out. I mean I can't really say I blame him. I exude awesome, even when I am trying to be unmemorable and unfriendly. Har!

Time to change my schedule.

Friday, November 11, 2011

ICP

I love it when teenagers swap jail stories.

"I don't consider it stealing if it's something you need. You know. Survival of the fittest!" Hard to argue with that I guess.

"I was so pissed because I was in jail when I was supposed to be at the tech n9ne show!" Ya I would be mad too. "And then there was that time when we were passing the joint at the ICP concert. The security guard was coming around so I passed it to the person next to me. Sucker got kicked out! Not my fault if you get caught."

These kids were getting drunk on the bus and people were complaining to the bus driver. He pulled the bus over and told them to keep their voices down about their stories of criminal behavior and to stop drinking on the bus.

"We're of age man!" Ya right.

They almost immediately began telling ridiculous stories again. Very loudly. "Man, I've been to jail like 20 times. One time was because I was drinking on the bus and the bus driver had the cops come!" HA.

Well more people complained to the current bus driver and he kicked them off. The girl, her "manly" girlfriend and their friend. "Whatever man, this is bull$hit! They flipped off the bus while we drove away."

Did I mention this was the same day the bus driver tried to deny a girl in a wheel chair? The bus was super full and a wheelchair takes up 3 seats. He was arguing with her that the bus was full and we were all paying riders. There wasn't room. She was begging him. "Just let me on the bus!" He would reply that another one is right behind this one. Then she started crying "JUST LET ME ON THE BUS!"

We were all exchanging awkward glances. The driver got up and asked us if we could make room for her. We all immediately shuffled around to clear the aisle and seats for her. When she came on the bus, the driver tried to ask her where she wanted to get off and she refused to acknowledge him. It was an all around awkward situation.

But, really, when I think about it, it was a typical day on the Sun Tran.

Oh and this post is dedicated to Shelly Elliott because I know how much she loves ICP.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Many Returns

I would first like to congratulate myself. I've been a loyal rider of the Sun Tran for almost 14 months now. People come and go. It's weird. They seem to disappear in the summer, then reappear during the academic school year. And visa versa.

Since school just started, many people have made appearances after I haven't seen them for months.

I had a deja vu experience with guy who I've seen twice on the bus. Probably a good 6 months in between sightings. Both times, I hear him plugging his genius marketing ploy to his fellow riders, which is especially genius because it is the desert here and we don't have a lot of water. His marketing ploy is dehydrated water. Think about that for a second.

Another guy I saw last week making a glorious return, Drunk and Disorderly. Only slightly less drunk this time. He stumbled on the bus, but at least he was on his feet. He stood at the front of the bus and shouted "HELLO TUCSON!" He then asked for a few quarters to use a pay phone. Nobody replied.

Making another return is none other than middle age briefcase guy. Last time I saw him, he was in that fight with the drunk guy and got a big ole gash on his face. Now, I see him most mornings sitting up very straight, with his briefcase in his lap and no emotion on his face. He's just sitting there, waiting. Waiting for a confrontation or something to set him off. Like a ticking time bomb that one is.Very still and ominous until BOOM!

It was an overcast day. Not just cloudy, but totally overcast, a very rare thing in Tucson. So overcast, I didn't need sunglasses, and that is rare. My eyes are sensitive to the sun, okay? I was heading home on the bus and the City Worker Cowboy with a Gut commented that I usually have sunglasses on and it was nice to see my eyes. He can tell a lot about a person by looking in their eyes. And apparently I smile with my eyes. Ok. I'd like to thank Tyra Banks for that then. She calls it "Smizing." Thanks Tyra.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

(Equa) Librium

Friday afternoon. Bus stop.

A friendly girl sat down next to me asking about the bus. She had her bus schedule pulled out. At this point, my bus was already 5 minutes late.

Enter toothless crazy person.

"Don't mind me, I've just been riding the bus around all day. I'm trying to get a crazy check, but they gave me Librium and I was high for 4 days. That stuff is crazy and I did Crystal Meth for half my life too."

Librium. What is that. Did he mean Lithium? Enter Google.

Librium: used to relieve anxiety and to control agitation caused by alcohol withdrawal.

Great, so pills for alcohol withdraw as opposed to pills for being manic depressive. Slightly better I suppose.

"I used to make iPhones and stuff, but then they could send my job oversees and pay them $.03 an hour instead of $100 an hour like they were paying me. I make over $100 a day now, but I won't tell you how. hea hea hea. And it's only partly illegal."

I figured I should throw out some indulgent awkward laughter. Nice girl next to me stuffed her nose further into her bus schedule, so she wasn't going to be helping me acknowledge this guy who was probably going to continue talking whether someone responded or not.

"I do my growing out in California. Best damn shit there is. Right now my son is growing for me......tomatoes that is. hea hea hea. Here in Arizona, they'll get you for everything. I was just in jail for 4 days after getting 5 jaywalking tickets in the last 3 months. I have 13 warrants out right now. It's those damn bicycle cops with their fancy computers on the back. You know it's time to get out of Tucson when the cops know your name. 'Hey George, wanna go grab a beer??' hea hea hea."

At this point, the bus was 15 minutes late and a different bus pulled up. I noticed the nice girl was getting on and I really really didn't want to be left alone with this guy. After a brief conversation in my head, I jumped on this bus, the wrong bus.

"God bless. God bless. God bless." He called after us.

I got off a few stops later and hoped he wasn't actually waiting for the same bus I was and would see him when my bus finally arrived. Luckily my gamble paid off and he wasn't on the bus.

Minutes later, the later bus leapfrogged us. We were 20 minutes late so the bus driver got a call from home base. "This bus is turning Express, we aren't picking anyone else up until we make up these 20 minutes."

We all looked at each other very nervously because she grabbed the steering wheel, focused, and barreled through a red light at Speedway, almost hitting a pedestrian and narrowly missing the bus pulled over after the intersection.

The guy across from me asks "Have you ever seen the movie Speed?"

I starting busting up laughing. Much more than necessary, but it seemed pretty hysterical at that moment. Especially since every bus stop we passed, she shook her head with some ferocity and made hand gestures to stay away from the bus to all of the people hoping to board.

Between the crazy drugged up dude and crazy race car bus driver lady, I was glad to get home.

Oh Tucson.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Drunk and Disorderly

It was a glorious afternoon on the Sun Tran.

A man stumbled onto the bus, stood in front of the driver for awhile, then proceeded to find a seat.

"Hey this bus costs $1.50, if you don't have it, go sit down (pointing back at the bus stop) and relax....do you have $1.50?"

"Yes I do" as he pulls out a sandwich from his pocket. Of course the bus driver keeps asking for the $1.50 and telling him he has to get off if he doesn't have the money and that he is making the route late.

He wavers there for awhile longer and finally pulls out a few passes. The bus driver swipes the first one for him and exclaims that it is expired. The second one works so the driver tells him to go sit down and relax. The dude, we'll call him Drunk and Disorderly, takes a step and then tries to lean against the bus driver. Of course the driver tells him to go sit down and the people in the first few seats of the bus scramble to move out of his way. He yells over and over that he is sorry in a very pathetic drunk voice.

As he sits down he yells to the driver to take him to TMC. "Take me to TMC!" The bus driver confirms that yes, the bus does go there, so he should relax and he'd get him there. More apologies follow.

"God bleeeeess America. Home that I love." He was loudly singing.

As he started slumping over in his seat, the girl across from him offered him her bottle of water and he graciously accepted it and then apologized again. He tried to repay her by asking her if she wanted a cigarette and she could could smoke it out the back door. She declined.

Drunk and disorderly yelled to the bus driver again that he wanted off at Beverly. The bus driver was getting angry. The guy kept singing, then beating his hand on a bar screaming "YES!" At this point, Mr. No Cell Phone, who had been sitting next to him got up and moved. Even Mr. No Cell Phone was getting weirded out.

As Drunk and Disorderly kept singing, the bus driver warned him that he needed to be quiet or he would kick him off the bus. He shot back with "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

The bus driver immediately pulled over and angrily approached him. "What did you just tell me???" After a minute or so he replied meekly "that I'd be quiet?" In a slight questioning tone. The driver continued to tell him that if he couldn't talk to him like that, he needed to be quiet or would be kicked off. A man from the back of the bus bravely came forward to tell the bus driver that he would be his witness if things got ugly or if he needed help kicking him off.

As soon as the bus started again, Drunk and Disorderly started singing again and then making fart noises with his mouth. Bus driver had had it. At the next stop, the driver went back to kick him off the bus, physically if necessary. Mr. No Cell Phone, with all his tact, says to the bus driver in the middle of all this "Hey I know you!"

Drunk and Disorderly immediately tells Mr. No Cell Phone "He don't fuckin care!! He wants me off this bus!"

Someone in the back was on the phone with the police department exclaiming a man was drunk and disorderly resisting getting kicked off the bus.

When the driver had Drunk and Disorderly almost out the back door, he pitifully was asking "where am I?? I need to go to TMC. Where am I now?" But he eventually went and sat down on the bus stop yelling "he don't fuckin care!"

This had left all the bus riders all riled up and applauding the bus driver exclaiming that "you gotta do what you gotta do!" and "one bad apple fuckin spoils it for the rest of us!"

Indeed.

Oh Tucson.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

The Wave

Mr. No Cell Phone waved at me twice last week.

The first time I gave a half smile back and then stewed with anger as to why he waved at me. Does he think we are friends? Absolutely not. Why does he get under my skin so much??

Then he waved at me again a few days later. I gave no response as I moved to the farthest back of the bus I could get. I scowled and knew he was watching me so I just stared out the window. I knew he had to be patronizing me. Why does he do everything he can to irk me? Patronizer!

Why do the bus people have to be so weird?? I have been riding with this guy who works for the City of Tucson and every day he wears his stained city shirt that he tucks in below his gigantic gut that I'm pretty sure has been growing over the past few months. He always has a handkerchief around his neck that is tied in the front with bola ties and reading magazines such as "American Cowboy" and "Western Horseman."

The other morning, Mother Hen got on the bus and sat next to City Worker Cowboy. They exchanged their hellos and then he began to go on and on about an AMAZING article about some Montana cowboys that went to Russia with their horses and cows and taught them how to be cowboys! Unbelievable!! can you even believe that? I didn't even know about that!

Pretty hilarious that Mother Hen just stared at him and tried to politely follow along and agree with how amazing his story was.

Congrats to him about his excitement with this story, but sharing it with random bus people, lets just say they probably don't share the same excitement.

Back to Mr. No Cell Phone - I finally peeked around the head in front of me to see what he was doing. He was standing at the front of the bus, even when there were plenty of open seats. Then a random girl got on the bus and guess what he does. He waves at her!! I feel some relief when he isn't patronizing me anymore. Well probably never was. He just likes to wave at people getting on the bus... ok. Ya I guess I feel better about that.

But we're still not friends.