Some Awards to Hand Out

I spend a lot of my commute time on Seattle buses between my apartment, downtown, and the U-district. So do a lot of other people. Quite a few of these people are strange. On my bus home tonight a man turned to his female friend behind him to say it was time for them to get off. In answer, she placed a handful of off-the-carcas cooked chicken in his gloved and beckoning hand. He flung the chicken chunk at the wall of the bus. They got off the bus and I watched them make out in the bus shelter as the rest of us rode away with the scent of a slow grocery store roaster.

This vignette reminded me that I can't say goodbye to the old year until I have paid tribute to some of my most memorable Metro experiences of 2005. So here goes:

Most Heartwarming

I got on a nearly empty seventy-something to go home after a late library night. No one was in the front of the bus except for a boy who looked younger than the 11 o'clock hour. My public health paranoia instantly sent shivers of, "this isn't good" up my instinct. Turns out, the kid was just along for a long transportation tour of the town. I had sat close enough to both boy and driver to hear their conversation. "Mr Driver, can you tell me again about how the buses have such big tires?" "Well, Little Fella, bus tires weigh more than twice as much as regular tires. And we have to have a special wrench at the bus shop just to put them on!" "Really? Wow!" They kept this up in same '50s prime-time sepia tones for my full 10 minute ride. Maybe it was bring your little fella to work day. Anyway, made me happy.

Most Heartwrenching

Going to work on first hill I sat in front of two girls with lots a piercings and lots of ragged layers of clothes. One girl was telling the other about how she had tried to stay in rehab, but she didn't see her friends when she stopped using crack. She knew she was hurting herself, but doing drugs was so much easier than anything else how could she ever change her life. When I get my MPH I might just ride the buses and when I hear conversations like this, I'll introduce myself, ask a few triage questions and recommend what stop people should get off at to find the services they need, and I'll go with them if they want. Of course, this is in my fantasyland where one doesn't have to worry about the presumption of being paternalistic and so everyone is happy to have my help. Anyway, her life sounded awful and it made me pretty sad.

Best Animal

To conclude with a favorite: The squirrel guy. He takes buses near UW. His squirrel, or I am guessing multiple squirrels, wear little ferret or iguana sized harnesses. A lot of people have seen this guy, I have only seen him once. He was talking to himself with his hand in the pouch of his winbreaker. Pulls out his hand and squirrel he was actually talking to lunges out on his knee, as far the harness will let him.. The guy announces to the bus, "He just loves a ride, loves the bus, loves the people." Meanwhile, the squirrel is freaking out trying to jump on people as they get off the bus in order to escape. Someone else on the bus has a dog, too, so that doesn't make the squirrel's stress levels any calmer. I think it has to multiple squirrels because I don't think the critters do well when confined to windbreaker pouches on buses and they probably run away when they get the chance (harnesses must make for decent chewing). If they stay with the guy, it's only cause they think he's nuts. He he.