The Plight of A Mass Transit Commuter

I’m sitting at a comfortable bus stop awaiting the arrival of my bus. It arrives several minutes after I sit down. I gracefully enter the bus and as I pay my fare the bus driver greets me warmly. I continue down the aisle noticing that there are a number of people on the bus. I finally come to an empty seat next to a "Dressed For Success" young man and sit down. As I settle into my seat, I notice that he is reading the Wall Street Journal. I sit back and prepare for the journey to my destination, WORK.

WORK !!! I’m startled awake to find myself indeed sitting at a bus stop. But nothing like the one I was dreaming about. Instead I’m sitting on a cold bench and I’m freezing. I look at my watch and find that I have been sitting here for over an hour. It’s so cold I can see my breath in the frigid air and my feet feel like they are no longer a part of my body. People are standing around doing different things trying to keep warm. Some are drinking hot coffee, others are doing jumping jacks and others believe that smoking a cigarette will help keep them warm. (Go figure!)

I remember the Tropicana bus was just reaching the intersection of Pecos and as though purposefully orchestrated, the traffic light went from Green to Yellow and then to Red. The bus driver applied his brakes and came to a full stop at the intersection. I was standing near the door ready to leap off the bus as soon as we arrived at the bus stop so I could run across the street and catch my bus. Alas, that was not to happen. As we waited at the intersection for the light to change, I watch as MY Pecos bus, the bus I need to get to work, whiz by us and disappear down the street. At that moment I wanted to cry. I knew I had a half-hour wait for the next bus.

Now over an hour later I'm still sitting here waiting. I’m not only late for work but I'm afraid to move from this spot fearing that I'll miss the bus again. I have no cell phone and there is no phone near the stop for me to call my office. I am cold and frustrated at this point.

Wait, wait!! I think I see the bus. Yes here it comes. It has just appeared over the horizon. It finally arrives at the intersection. Of course the light has to change. We aren't cold enough. It finally comes to a stop in front of us. Everyone scurries to get on the bus out of the cold. I’m the third person in line and as I stand there waiting my turn to board a woman twice my height and weight bulldozes her way past everyone and comes to stand in front of me in line. At this point I’m too cold to say anything, I just want to get on that bus.

Finally my turn comes and I trip up the steps onto the bus and can’t believe what I’m looking at. The bus is filled with wall to wall bodies. As I step up to pay my fare the driver bellows out,(right in my ear) "Everyone Step as far to the rear as possible, passagengers boarding." I thought to myself, "There’s no place for these people to go, they're already packed as tightly as sardines." Somehow a little space was made as people tried to squeeze in tighter. I stepped behind the yellow line and squeezed between a young man wearing baggy pants that he’s holding up with one hand and an older woman wearing "Oh! Do I need a bath" cologne. Standing between "I'm losing my pants" and "Oh! Do I need a bath", I settle in for my interesting ride to work.

It feels like an eternity but finally I hear the automated announcer shout, "Now approaching Flamingo, transfer for route 202". I let out a sigh of relief knowing I now only have two more stops before I reach my destination. At this stop several people get off including "I'm loosing my pants" and "Oh! Do I need a bath". Although "Oh! Do I need a bath" has left, her essence lingers in the bus like a dark heavy cloud.
A short time later, I see the bus approaching my stop. Since I’m standing and can’t reach the cord to request my stop, I politely impose on a passenger sitting in front of me to pull the cord. As the bus reaches the stop, I inch my way to the door.

FINALLY!!! The door opens, and I take my first step off the bus. The air hits my face and fills my nostrils. I forgot how cold it was. I just know that the air feels fresh and smells delicious after my bus ride. I can finally get the aroma of "Oh! Do I Need a Bath" out of my nostrals.

That evening arriving home after another traumatic bus ride, I settled in for a quiet dinner and some TV before going to bed. I turn on the television, right in time for a commercial break. On the screen is a woman comfortably sitting at a bus stop. Just then the bus arrives and she gracefully steps onto the bus, pays her fare as the bus driver greets her warmly. She then proceeds to an empty seat next to a "Dressed for Success" young man reading a Wall Street Journal.

At this point I completely loose it. I feel my body begin to shake and my eye start to twitch as my mind leaves me and finds a new dimension to dwell in.