This is why people hate Public Transportation
Most of the time riding public transportation is uneventful. You get on your train, bus, cab, whatever...you get to your location...you get off..go about your business and don't have a second thought about your ride. Then there was yesterday.
I had to go downtown to visit one of the ten doctors that are on phone's speed dial. Yanno...you'd think I'd be a lot sicker than I really am with so many medical professionals on my insurance company's payroll. Anyway, I digress and more about the doctor a little later. I'm done with the appointment and run a few errands and it's time to go home. Just a fairly normal day and nothing to write about...YET!
It's a two bus process to get home and part one goes okay, except for some traffic due to construction. No biggie. Part two is a two mile ride down Ashland. For those of you who aren't local, Ashland is a major street in Chicago and there's usually a #9 bus every few minutes. Not yesterday! I have a phone app that lets me know when a bus will arrive at a specific locale. It's great when I'm at home because I don't have to wait 25 minutes at the bus stop in inclement weather. I checked the app and it said 25 minutes. Ironic!
I really don't want to wait that long and it's too far to walk so I'm thinking maybe I should take a cab. The thing is I took a cab to get to the doctor because: a. I was late b. I didn't want to get her mad at my tardiness because I have a bit of a crush on her. She's really cute and yesterday was wearing skinny jeans and fuck-me heels. REALLY!!
Yanno...I really should try to date more doctors...just sayin'.
But back to the bus....I'd already spent $15 to get to the doctor and considering I get free PubTrans (the one thing that pays off for having a chronic illness and making little money) and didn't feel like spending any more cash, I decided to wait.
I'm sitting on a bench, reading a book and time is moving fairly fast. I look down the street and here comes the #9 bus....followed by another #9 bus...followed by a third #9 bus. I haven't seen so many Number Nines in a row since The Beatles White Album.
That's the sort of shit that gets PubTrans riders really pissed off, myself included. There really isn't anything you can do about it except laugh, right?
Now if you think that's the payoff for this story, you'd be wrong. Very wrong!
The bus is packed with people. There's a woman with one of those supersonic strollers in the handicapped section. We're about a mile into the trip when the bus stops and the driver rolls down the ramp. That means a wheelchair is coming aboard. One problem, the woman with the stroller isn't moving. There's a pecking order to who gets to sit in the handicapped section....wheelchairs trumps strollers. Hell, wheelchairs trumps everything.
So you have a guy in a chair with nowhere to go and riders yelling at the woman with the stroller to move. She's not budging and finally the driver comes over to have a heated chat with her. He's in her face and she finally gets up and is about to move. The driver then looked into the stroller and saw what was inside....GROCERIES!! He let the entire bus know that, too.
The woman found a place in the aisle....I hope her groceries were safe. My seatmate exited a stop later, had to squeeze by the stroller and left her with this lovely thought, "Lady, you really have some fucking nerve." She really did.
I made it home about five minutes later. I didn't say a thing to her. I just wrote this!
Tonight I'm thinking two things.... a. Maybe I should try Uber? b. I wonder if my Doctor is wearing those shoes.
There are lots of funny stories about riding buses & trains. Check out and like my Facebook page Great Moments in Public Transportation.
Type your email address in the box and click the "create subscription" button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.