Archive for January, 2007
How to beat the system
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s witnessed people attempt to get onto the bus without paying. Just the other day there was a guy who walked past the driver as someone else was paying. Then someone who had already paid handed him a transfer and he turned around and walked off the bus. [...]
Everyone wants to know the answer
Talkative homeless guy: How did you go blind?
Everyone on the bus within a 10 foot radius stops what they were doing
Talkative homeless guy: I mean, were you born that way or did something happen?
Blind guy: I was in a car accident as a child, I don’t actually remember the accident. I was really young.
Talkative homeless [...]
Pickle Juice for Breakfast?
I had to be at work early the other day, so I caught the 7:20am bus instead of the usual 8:00am. This may sound strange, but as I stepped onto the bus I got excited at the number of unfamiliar faces staring back at me. I knew it was going to be a good morning [...]
If you smell something funny…
I get on the bus early enough in the route that I can usually snag an open two seats. Well on this particular day there was only a couple aisle seats open. I quickly surveyed my options and chose what I thought would be the best person to sit next to. I immediately regretted the [...]
Target Prescription Drugs
One thing I’ll never understand is how some people feel perfectly comfortable speaking loudly in a quiet public setting. What’s even more confusing is that these people often talk about some very private subjects. The other day my husband and I were riding the bus together and two women got on. One of them was [...]
Peanut Butter Sandwich
This tale occured on 8 Jan 07.
For future identification, she was pretty average looking, Asian, short side of shoulder length black hair, and wore charcoal wool coat. I sat down next to her in the first forward facing seat. (Maybe this is karma telling me to leave those seats for the handicapped and elderly EVEN [...]
The Weisman is not earthquake-proof
This happened when the Weisman Art Museum (at the U) first opened.
Going from St. Paul to Minneapolis we pass the Weisman. The guy in front of me turns around and asks, “Why is that building like that?”
Me: “Well, it’s the new art museum. I bet they thought maybe they should make the buidling itself [...]
Passive-Aggressive Kung-Fu
On the 9, I was reading a collection of essays by Michel Foucault. I tell you this not to try and impress you, as Foucault is so five minutes ago and serves as a simple cue for many to say “I like critical theory. Do you like critical theory?” I’m telling you because it comes [...]
A few big swigs for the road
When you take a very early bus to work, sometimes you get the guys that are just wrapping up the night before. Near Lake & Lyndale, a guy tries to get on with a bottle of gin. The bus driver won’t let him on because of the liquor. He steps back as [...]
That was a different Berkeley back then
I sat by a kind of down-and-out guy and took out the Schubert Mass in A-flat to study (I use my bus time that way a lot on my way to choir practice.)
Anyway, he noticed what I was doing and asked where I sing. I told him St. Agnes, and he rambled a little about [...]
