Now, I have talked to a number of friends that have had awful experiences on the bus. Or weird, or hilarious. I'm sure this happens to a lot of people. But, I dunno, I kind of have had nothing but good experiences.
Like the other morning, I was running late to get to my bus stop and I saw the bus coming up behind me. Where I was and the rate the bus was going, it was surely going to fly past my stop without me there. I started running as fast as I could to make it to the stop before the bus did, as it is a lonely stop with usually nobody there, especially at 6am. Well, the bus driver gave me a friendly little honk and slowed to where I was running down the sidewalk and opened its doors, a block before the stop. And there was my kind ol' bus driver smiling saying, "I gotcha." I mean, how sweet is that? I feel like if that was in LA, the driver would've just flown right past me.
A couple weeks ago, I took a bus ride to the dentist, on a Saturday mind you. Not that fun sounding, if you ask me, right? This was actually one of the most pleasant experiences I have ever had. I put on a shuffle of Cat Power on my iPod and just people watched.
Every one has their own story...on their way to or from somewhere, with their own set of friends and family.
There are a few occurances that have actually made me well up with tears. And my friends that know me, know that this is not necessarily a rare thing: Ashley crying. But it's usually just when I am moved by something. Random acts of kindness, get me every time.
Like when a homeless man reluctantly stepped on the bus and asked the driver if he could just take him a little ways and apologized that he didn't have fare. The driver said "not a problem". The homeless man stood there at the front on the bus, not wanting to disturb anybody else by sitting down next to them. He just stood there and chatted with the driver. They proceeded to have the most honest exchange of words I have ever heard between strangers. The driver actually asking with genuine concern about the homeless man's well-being. The homeless man telling in brief detail how he got to where he was. It was truly and simply poetic.
Another time, three 13-year-old boys got on the bus and two of them showed their bus tickets and sat down. The other boy scrambled to find his ticket in his pockets, but to no avail. He called down to his friends, "Hey guys, I think I have to get off because I can't find my ticket anywhere and I don't have any money left, but you can just go on without me". His two friends immediately jumped up and started pulling coins out of their pockets to try to meet the $2 fare. The money-less kid looked a little embarrassed and almost tear-stricken, but his friends came through and they all took a seat together. His friends didn't even mock or make fun of him at all.
Is it weird that these little things just make me so happy?
There are so many other stories I could recount, but I think you get the idea. I was just actually inspired to write about the bus. Weird, right?
