Road Rules

The other day I decided to take the ferry home instead of the bus, and while this isn't a bus or ferry story, it's what happened on the way to the ferry.

I had just left my office building and was waiting to cross the street during rush hour. There is no crosswalk at this intersection but there is a law that says any intersection, whether it is a marked crosswalk or not, it is still considered a crosswalk and traffic must stop and let pedestrians cross. So myself along with 2 other people were standing on the corner waiting for traffic to stop so we could cross, which they did. We did not just walk out in traffic, we waited patiently. We were more than half way across the street approaching the opposite curb when a middle aged lady on her bike comes flying up the bike lane, along side the stopped cars. Clearly this lady had no intentions of stopping for us. One of the people crossing the street with me could sense this and they stopped so that they wouldn't get hit, but not me. How I see it is that I am a pedestrian that waited for traffic to stop and then crossed the street not doing anything wrong, and if this lady on her bike wants to ride her bike in the bike lane and consider herself a vehicle like that rest of the cars on the road, then she will obey all laws like the rest of the cars! Why should I stop when I am doing nothing wrong? I kept walking and the lady saw me, made eye contact with me, but kept biking! She really does not give a F that she was going to hit us, or what the rules of the road are! Again I am not stopping just because one person feels they are above everyone else. Finally when the lady was about 3 feet away from me she slammed on the brakes and stopped. One of the other people crossing with me hesitated and stopped so when bike lady saw this she decided to keep on biking. However i was still walking so the lady had to slam on her brakes again! She muttered something like "jesus christ" and gave all 3 of us real nasty looks like we were in the wrong. We finally got to the sidewalk and before we even had both of our feet on the ground the lady took off on her bike muttering to herself. All 3 of us looked at each other completely bewildered and even a man in one of the stopped cars shrugged his shoulders in confusion. None of us could believe how rude this bike lady was! I yelled down the street to the biker something like "you're supposed to stop for pedestrians too you know!" out of anger. I know it was silly, but just had to say it to feel better.

The rest of the walk to the fery I was fuming mad at the lady's ignorance and how she really could think she did not have to stop for us! So I get to the ferry terminal and as I approach the waiting area, who do I see? A middle aged lady standing and waiting with her bike! Of all the space I had to stand and wait, I decided to walk right over to the lady, about a meter away and wait for my ferry. I slowly turned my head, looked over at her and smiled. I held my gaze for at least 10 seconds before slowly turning away to grab my phone to tell my friend I almsot just got run over by a cyclist. The lady said nothing, turned her head and just looked straight ahead for the rest of our wait for the ferry. I could have easily told her off right there but decided not too since there is a good chance I will see her again. There will be many more chances for me to tell her off.

Headphones please!

On my way to work and the bus is stuck in traffic. It's bad enough I can hear Party Rock Anthem blaring from the headphones of the girl sitting in front of me, but now I can hear some other noise coming from behind me. This doesn't sound like noise from headphones but noise from speakers. I turn around to see if I can find the source of noise but almost everyone is wearing headphones. Maybe someone thinks their headphones are plugged in but they aren't. No that noise is definitely coming from speakers. So who is it? I turn around and take another glance but can't figure it out. The noise sounds like it's a TV show, a guy & girl having conversation. Ok judging by the romantic sounds of it I will say it's a girl watching it and it just keeps getting louder & louder! I take another look, but this time a few people are staring at me since i have turned around a couple times now. A guy sitting across from me just took his headphones off and looked back. He mumbles something to me about the noise; he can hear it too. We both look back and there is a girl sitting directly behind him who is hunched over holding her phone in her hands staring at it. It must be her! A young guy sitting 2 seats over from her takes his headphones off, stares at her and now all 3 of us are looking around. We all look at the girl and nod to each other that it must be her. Now there are at least 2 more people taking their headphones off to see where the noise is coming from. Just to give you an idea of how loud it is, 4 different people could hear the girl's noise over the music coming from their own headphones! The young guy sitting beside her has had enough and after looking at me one final time he leans over and says to her with a not so happy look on his face "excuse me, do you not have headphones?". The girl oblivious to what she is doing and how rude it is, looks at him and giggles "oh I'm sorry", and turns it off. The guy and everyone else in the area shake their heads and go back to their business. I look at the guy , mouth a thank you, and smile.

Wow for once someone actually spoke up about another passengers lack of respect! Just really amazed at this girls ignorance.

I'm sure the signs on the bus saying no stereos, and headphones are required apply to everyone!

Street Cred

It's after work, I'm sitting at the back of the bus. Bus pulls up to a major bustop and at least a dozen people get on. Everyone is pushed to the back where I am to make room for more people. So there are now about 6 people standing in front of me. I'm playing with my phone trying to zone things out when the person i am with nudges me and points to a young guy standing right in front of us. He points to a tattoo on the guy's arm. I'm trying to read it but the font used is horrible and i can't tell if i am reading it upside down or what! Finally I am able to make out what it says "WOODSIDE". Oh what a lovely tattoo, the name of one our towns ghettos! Staying classy I see. So we chuckle to ourselves but its not until i continue looking him over that I see the ultimate accesory. Sideways ball cap check, baggy white shirt check, big fake blinged out watch check, hold up, is that a glow in the dark rosary around your neck! WTF it is! Holy Shit, i have never seen something so ridiculous! Nothing against the rosary but come on buddy you really expect me to believe you pray and go to church? Maybe you pray you don't get shot, but thats about it. And glow in the dark? Does this add to your street cred or something? If you're that cool, then you should not be taking the bus.

Oh how I love this town!

Summer Break!

I know, I know..... it's been over a month since i've had any updates on the crazy bus people. Between summer vacation & work, and taking the ferry, it's been impossible to write about anything. But vacation is over, the weather is horrible, and I am back to taking the bus again.

I have mentioned before that on the ferry nothing really weird or unbelievable happens but I have seen one or two things that made me laugh. One morning I was getting on the ferry and a lady was standing with her daughter in her stroller. That was not weird but the mother seemed weird. She ordered a muffin from the coffee stand, and after paying for it she turned around and pushed the stroller away......never taking the muffin. I bought my coffee and I was going to grab her muffin and bring it to her but before I had a chance to grab it she came back, pushing me aside and laughing hysterically muttering something about her muffin. I could say it was still early in the morning and we have all done something like that, but I think there was more to it and i'm not sure what. I watched her as she pushed the stroller and instead of standing up straight to push it, she bent over so that her back was level with the handle and pushed it like she was trying to move something that weighed 1000lbs! Maybe she was going for the ergonomic style but I highly doubt it and I also doubt the stroller weighed that much! When we got on the ferry she stood instead of taking a seat. The ferry was half empty so she had plenty of seats to choose from. So since she stood she spent most of the ride trying to keep her balance (waves were choppy) so why not take a seat?? Then she forgot to put the brakes on the stroller, turned her back for 1 minute and there goes the stroller across the aisle! Other people kept staring at her daughter and paying attention to what the girl was doing but I couldn't see her so maybe the daughter was just as weird.

Then there was the guy who obviously had trouble dressing himself for work. I got off the ferry and a young guy was walking in front of me. I have seen him on the ferry and bus for the last 4 years and know enough  that Fridays are casual dress day at his office. So he had on jeans and a rugby style American Eagle shirt. How did I know it was AE? Because his shirt was on inside out! At first I thought it was one of those shirts that have the tags on the oustide on purpose, and I grumbled about how much I hate those shirts. But then I noticed the seams were also on the outside! Wait a minute! Omg, his shirt is on inside out! There it is, American Eagle XL size, for everyone to see! I sort of felt bad and wanted to tell him so to save him the embarassment when he got to work. But then again he doesn't know me, I just watch him, so I kept on walking.

The good thing about seeing these things on the ferry/ bus is that I now have quite the checklist for presenting myself as a decent/ normal person. Order coffee: do i have my coffee? Check yes! Get dressed in the morning: are my clothes on properly? Check yes!

See, simple life lessons can help make you a normal person :)

Don't run, just walk

Sometimes I run to catch my bus, but I think after what I saw today I may not do it anymore. Or at least not do it the way a lady just did it.

While waiting for my bus,  a different bus pulled up, passengers got on, and it started to pull away. A lady was trying to run and catch that bus before it took off. Even after the bus started to pull away, she still kept running knocking and pounding on the side of the bus trying to stop it. This is where SHE should have stopped! She left the sidewalk and was now running between the bus & curb, even though it is obvious this bus is not stopping. So what happens next, she trips on the edge of the curb ( there was only about a foot of space between the bus & curb) falls backwards, and rolls onto the sidewalk. Everyone gasped and ran over to help her and I felt bad but at the same time it could have been prevented. what if the bus had been going faster and she fell towards the bus, not away from it. I feel horrible but was catching that bus really worth risking her life? She looked really embarassed when everyone tried helping her up so hopefully she realized her stupidity and won't do it again!

Would you chase a bus down the street?

Ever wonder why.....

Ever wonder why:

-people dance & sing while listening to their music? I dance & sing, but when i am alone or with friends. I do not dance when i am standing by myself waiting for a bus or the ferry, and definitely don't do it like i am auditioning for a tv show! For example, a girl waiting for the ferry this morning was all by herself with her headphones on jamming. She held her ipod way up in the air staring at it and she was singing & dancing back from side to side. There was at least 45 other people also waiting so i just don't understand it. It's not like she could actually sing, it was horrible! Why, just why?

-people stare & continuously smile at you? I do! Last night while waiting for my bus, a lady sat down beside me on the bench. She looked at me and smiled, and I nodded back. That's normal, we say hi to each other around here. What's not normal is that she kept glancing & smiling, like she wanted to talk to me, or just really enjoyed my presence. It's creepy! Why are you staring at me?

-people act pissed off when you sit in the seat next to them and they have to shove over? You paid fare for one person so guess what? You only get one seat! It's public transportation, people are going to sit beside you whether you like it or not!

-parents let their kids bang their head off the window and don't stop them? Seriously, I have seen this happen!

-people wear sneakers with a suit/ dress/ skirt? this has nothing to do with the bus really besides the fact i see women on the bus wearing sneakers with big wooly socks and they have a blazer and pencil skirt on. Why do you do it? It's silly.

-there's a weird greasy smudge on the window beside your face? Did a girl lean her face on the window and take a little nap leaving behind her makeup smear? Did someone lean their head against the window leaving behind a hair gel smear? Does someone have really greasy shoulders that left a smudged behind? Besides these thoughts i really cannot explain that mystery smear, but i do know to not touch it or lean on the window.

Chatterbox & the Seal

 Normally the ferry ride to work is not very exciting. It's relaxing and beautiful, but you don't normally see weird stuff. But the bus ride to the ferry can fun which is where i first laid eyes on Pin head.Well this week we have a new addition to the ferry bus, Chatterbox.

I got on a fairly empty bus, and sat on one of the seats the runs parallel with the aisle. Across from me was this lady chatting away! 3 seats down from her was another lady reading a paper who did not seem one bit itnerested in what Chatterbox was saying so i figured she was not the one she was talking to. Chatterbox continues talking but at the same time she was looking at the ceiling with her eyes rolled halfway into the back of her head, and just kept moving her head from side to side. Okay now i am starting to question her sobriety. She's now asking questions in her conversation but the hell is she talking to? No one is sitting beside her and no one is really paying attention to her either. She looks past the lady sitting 3 seats down and randomly asks if they (whoever they is...) still ahve her number. A guy sitting a few seats down from 3 seat down lady looks at Chatterbox and grumbles "do you ever stop talking?". Chatterbox asks again about the number and he just rolls eyes, shakes his head and looks away. Maybe he has been on the bus for awhile with her and getting sick of it. Who knows! And she keeps talking. I'm trying not to laugh at this point because i really cannot figure out if the guy knows her or not because she seems very interested in him. She continues talking to him (even though he is a good 3 meters away from her) and he just shakes his head and asks her to shut up. I look down at her feet and she has with her a blue recycable bag which has 2 rolls of toilet paper and slippers in it. I think it's safe to assume Chatterbox is not all there in the head.

One last thing, on the way home that same day on the ferry, as we were crossing our Harbour i saw something black bobbing up & down in the water. It was a seal!! Yeah it made my day :)

Happy Friday everyone!