#4128

Still recording the bus numbers, but have really stopped looking for duplicates. One of these days I'll be seriously mindbent and go back and create a chart - possibly after retirement?

Today's ride started off unusually. When the bus pulled up to my stop I noticed the inside was completely dark. The door opened, the interior lights didn't come on, but I kind of groped my way in and found the slot to slide my card. I was the only one on the bus and asked the driver if the lights were broken. He gave me a long answer that I couldn't really understand (had my headphones on) and was finished by the time I got the 'phones off. Due to the length of explanation, I assumed the lights were fine and he just had a problem with them. I heard the word "glare" and assumed he meant for his vision. He said he'd leave them off until somebody complained. I told him I didn't care - made viewing outside easier. We picked up another passenger and she commented about the darkness. He didn't offer her any explanations, so I figured it would take a major complaint to get the lights on.

I really didn't mind it at all, although it felt a bit like a cross between a haunted house ride and an episode of the Twilight Zone with maybe a little ColdCaseFiles/CSI thrown in. Perhaps the driver was a serial killer who had hijacked the bus and was planning to murder passengers in the dark. I didn't see any bodies on the floor of the bus, so assumed any murdering was going to start with me. We kept collecting people and poor Steve the Mechanic couldn't read his USA Today - he never said a word, but had a bewildered, confused expression. We do like our ducks to line up the same every day, don't we? Finally, at Southern and Mill, the driver turned the lights on. An elderly woman got on and I thought he wanted to cut her some slack. I expected him to turn them off after she was seated, but he left them on the rest of the ride. I think he was experimenting and when the bus reached a certain passenger saturation point, his nerve failed him and he caved to conventional wisdom. It made for an interesting ride.