#4150

What a great bus day! It had all the elements I crave in a good bus ride. Last night I shared a death ride home with bicycle guy, but that story will wait for a snoozer morning.

Today started off slow but as ridership built it got more interesting. The stop at Southern and Mill seems to add the most people to the ride. Today we got many repeaters and a man I've never seen before. He was tall and rather stout with white hair - probably in his mid to late 50s. He seemed as average as any of us seem, but as the ride progressed I noticed he was doing something with his hands. The right hand held out four fingers and his left hand held one - he moved them around as if counting and his head and lips would move as though talking to himself. A pattern quickly established and it was evident he had some type of situtation like autism. He sat next to Dave who later said the man smelled like the VA hospitals - an odd mix of soap and clay. He was neat and clean, the neurons were just not letting go. It's sad in one respect, but then again he was out and about on his own two feet. But for the grace ... Dave said he has seen him frequently on later buses going home.

The best part of the ride was the arrival of Engineering Guy! He hasn't been around for awhile and I do miss him. He makes me laugh and who can't use a good smile to start the day? He bounded (literally) onto the bus at Broadway and Mill and nearly ran the length of the bus to talk to bicycle guy. Seems EG saw BG earlier in the morning (is that possible? we are talking the 6am bus here) and EG was simply ecstatic. He didn't use any fabulous terms today, but it was just a pleasure to have his energy on the bus. I was surrounded by repeaters, EG was there in full form - it just couldn't have been better.