Archive for April, 2007
Nemo, the unluckiest driver
This is a story about ‘NEMO’, his nickname will become apparent shortly. He drives the service 36, [a single deck route]. One day he is on route for his terminus which is right outside the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, he has a full load of passengers mostly Japanese and American tourists. He reaches the […]
No aluminum foil hat
This happened today. A woman got on an eastbound trip at 4th and Nicolett. She was middle-aged, plump and wearing a few too many scarves. She said she wanted to get to Kellogg, in St. Paul. It turned out she wanted to go to Kellogg and John Ireland.
Something you’d hear on television
So I missed my usual ride home. The 94 is the first backup route that I use. Once on, I sit down in one of the front seats. In the front row is a man. He’s staring out the window and is speaking. The speech is like something you would […]
First day of college
My first day of college at the U of M will be a day that will live on in my mind as of the worst days of my life. I was very nervous about taking the bus as I had only taken the bus to the Mall of America two or three times and […]
More snow?
Last week I was in a window seat when I noticed that there were a few white flakes of something on my shirt. I looked up to see that the guy in front of me was covered in dandruff. From his greasy brillow pad of hair to his dark yellow ear canals, everything was covered. […]
Bad hair decade
In the late 80’s I was on a bus, in Milwaukee. Probably going home from my “McJob” at the downtown mall, late at night. A woman gets on the bus, no one I recalled seeing on that route, as it was usually full of other “McJobbers” from the same mall, most of them high school […]
You don’t enjoy Christmas?
I was riding the #16 during the Christmas season a few years ago. If anyone knows anything about the 16, they know that there is an extremely diverse grouping of people. I was sitting towards the front of the bus and a Muslim lady was sitting in the seat in front of me. […]
Fine china plates and dishes
I was riding the 32 bus in Washington, DC and this lady gets on muttering to herself, “That son of a bitch, that son of a bitch”. Anyway, she’s carrying two big shopping bags completely full of fine china plates and dishes. She walks to the back of the bus and sits down […]
This transfer is no good
Long, long ago, before the buses had electronic fare boxes, drivers issued paper transfers and had to check them visually when they were presented. Also, long, long ago MTC, as it was called then, didn’t have its own police force. It hired off-duty police from various departments.
A Tribute to Jerry
I landed in Milwaukee in the late 80’s when my grandfather passed away and left a house to my mother, That was when I learned how to ride the bus, i thought it was “cool:” I didn’t have to depend on my mom for rides anymore (we came from a town that didn’t have buses). […]
