Archive for September, 2007
Just a little guy
I’m on the 4 by the Walker. This guy got on back in downtown and I smelled him immediately. Everyone starts yelling in the back of the bus and I’m 6′4” 250 lbs. so I have a responsibility here. Turns out the drunk is trying to bat up some foreign tourist who speaks some Eastern […]
Interview jitters?
One day while waiting to board the 16 eastbound on Nicollet and 4th, I noticed the guy waiting next to me looked awfully nervous. He kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other, and appeared to be concentrating hard. Occasionally he would clip open a briefcase, shuffle the papers inside as if to […]
No thumbs at all
About 10 years ago, I was riding the 4 southbound from downtown on a summer day at rush hour, the bus was about 3/4 full. At Franklin and Lyndale, a tall, slim African-American man in his late 40s or early 50s got on. He sat down in the sideways-facing seat directly behind the driver. There […]
Justice on the Bus
“I’ve got your back.” Not words I am used to hearing, not in real life, certainly not directed at me. Until yesterday on my way home from work, I’ve never had occasion to feel emboldened by these words. It felt great. For the first time ever I could detect a hint of the security one […]
The Meanest Bastard
I hopped on the bus on the east side of St. Paul, heading home from a Metro State night-class at around 9:30 pm. immediately as I paid my fare I noticed a weird and definitely bad vibe. The driver, an older white guy looked seriously pissed, and I soon learned why. A […]
