"What are you doing?! Drive the damn bus!"

So I'm on the bus this morning, heading out to my stylist's house in the west end, appointment for 9:15 AM. I "know" the bus driver by nickname (not by real name), am on one of his buses occasionally, usually on weekends. He tells a lot of groaners (bad puns, jokes), and stories he should keep to himself or save for others (not me). 

Anyway.

We're chatting away about various things and he tells me fares are going up in the new year, $3 for everyone (no discount for kids or seniors anymore, though if you can prove you're on a fixed income a reduced rate will be available, and high school kids already get free transit). 

All of a sudden he pulls the bus over at the side of the street, gets out of his seat and tries to pull out the paper sign listing the new fares (it's in a plexiglass protective sleeve).

Okay, I can see the fares are going up, you don't need to stop the bus to try to pull out the only sign to give to me.

And the next thing you know I'm channeling Maxine, because out of mouth comes, "What are you doing?! Drive the damn bus!"

I mean, I have a 9:15 appointment and you're pulling the bus over for that? WTF? 

Can you see me here shaking my head, both at myself and at him? He did seem a bit taken aback, called me pushy -- it's hard to know with him when he's being serious because he's always doling out the bullsh*t. Hopefully he didn't take it in an insulting manner -- I can't help it that I'm 52 and sometimes my brain and my mouth don't work in accord. :-D

Oh, but you know the really lovely thing today?

My hair appointment finished at 10 AM, too early for one bus, just a few minutes too late for the other in her area. So I walked the 25 minutes over to the bus transfer point, and as I was approaching the turn off for the shortcut I take when I (rarely) walk that way, I saw a car pull into the driveway and a person get out. It was one of the staff from the department on the other side of our floor--she had seen me booting it along the side of the road (one side is farmland, no sidewalks there), thought I might have missed a bus and that something could be wrong. She stopped to ask if I needed a drive somewhere.

Now, I see this woman occasionally in the shared kitchen and we chat now and again, but she's not a coworker. I really was touched that she would stop and ask if I needed help, what a lovely gesture. I thanked her, assured her everything was fine, then carried on. But that small act of kindness made my day.

Lots of geese in the fields.

 

BTW, the Salvation Army took everything yesterday; yay! Now to get rid of the tools, then have the junk guys come (maybe early in the new year for that).

I hope everyone's having a good day and that Maxine moments are limited to me. :-P

Peace.