#4154

Remembered today's number and the ride was so boring, that's all I remember. However, not to fear, readers dear -- last night's ride home was action-packed and makes for an interesting blog entry.

Last night's bus (5pm) was comfortably full which is light ridership for that time of day. The driver was a maniac - hitting speeds near 80 MPH between stops. I had to call on all my buns-of-steel strength to keep from rolling off the seat or slamming into my fellow riders during the high powered accelerations and deccelerations. We weren't running late, so his haste was a mystery. Passengers kept getting off, no one else got on and eventually I was the lone rider. We sped down Rural and took the corner at Guadalupe on two wheels, halting abruptly at the bus stop in front of the strip mall. The driver jumped up out of the seat, said, "I'll be back in a minute, ma'am" and left the bus. I figured he wanted a cigarette or coffee from the convenience store, but instead he was dodging five lanes of traffic to cross Guadalupe and go into Arby's. Speed mystery solved - he was hungry!

Time passed and there I sat, alone on a running bus. I started thinking about getting in the driver's seat, taking the bus on up to my stop and leaving it there for the next person who wanted to try bus driving. I value my freedom, however, and felt the police would be less than kind, perceiving my bus driving as theft. A felon, I'm not, so I abandoned the driving plan, but as time ticked away I became a little irritated that this fellow would leave his bus and assume I wasn't a risk to steal it. How boring is that? I returned to contemplating bus theft (I'll show him what a risk I can be bygawd), when I spotted the Chopstick Express. It's a nice little Chinese restaurant with the best crab rangoons ever. My mind started working in a new direction and I decided I could get dinner and walk home - it's only a mile and I needed to fill in some more steps on my pedometer. I firmed this plan in my head and then wondered about leaving the bus. The driver still hadn't returned and I debated my duty to stay with the craft. As a paying passenger, am I protecting an investment? Bus theft isn't common (have you ever heard of Grand Theft Bus?), but any such incident would be costly and who always bears the cost of doing business? I decided to stay with the bus until the driver returned - it just felt like the right thing to do. I finally saw him coming across the street so I got off the bus, met him at the sidewalk and said thanks for the ride. I walked over to ChopEx, ordered a Kung Pao Chicken combo, read the paper while I waited for my order and then walked home. The rangoons were delicious, my pedometer was flush with the extra steps and I had a lot to write about in the bus blog.