Plastic Ice Cream Pail
I did 11 years on the Number 5 bus, so it’s difficult to know where to begin. When the young man punched me in the face? When the drunk puked on my shoes? Time blurs some of the drama those unpleasant experiences.
The one that probably pops up most often is the young man who dropped his handgun next to me as he exited the bus. He was carrying, strangely enough, in a plastic ice cream pail. He bumped into something, dropped the gun, and my half of the bus went so quiet so quickly, it was like…well like someone dropped a gun in front of all of us.
The young man picked up the gun, put it back in the pail, and exited the bus, walking in the direction of the nearby school. This was before cell phones were widespread, and I thought the bus driver should have at least called the police to the school. It made me think that some kind of tip line for bus drivers, with monetary rewards, would help fight crime around the city.
Anyway, I told my cynical friend about the encounter the next day. Not a gun owner myself, I said “I think that’s the closest I’ve ever been to a handgun.”
He said, “I’ll bet not.”
Thanks, Chris.
Mar 19th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Sounds like your friend was packing heat too.