Bus Report #511

This morning I waited for the 22 with the annoying construction workers, the woman who always needs to stand right next to me despite how big the bus stop is, and a crazy/drug addled man who kept pacing back and forth, mumbling and constantly counting the change in his hand.

On the bus, the only available seat was next to the Austin coffee cup girl. She was reading a huge hardcover book. The book took up her whole lap, and to turn the pages she had to balance her coffee between her knees and then turn the page with one hand while keeping the book balanced in the other.
When she closed the book, I saw she was reading War and Peace. Just a little light reading for her morning commute, right?

Another woman was reading Junot Diaz's great book The Brief, Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao.

The crazy man sat in the front of the bus, balancing his large suitcase and his even larger duffel bag on the seat next to him. He continued to talk to himself, but didn't cause any problems for anyone.

At the Turk Street stop, one of the little kids who always rides the bus with his brothers tore around the corner and hopped on to the bus.
"Wait up! My brothers are coming, they'll be here in a minute," he promised the driver.
The driver said, "Are they right here? Can you go get them? I can't wait."
The little boy got out and ran back around the corner.
"HURRY UP YOU GUYS!" he called, in his sweet little voice. He stepped back up onto the bus. "They're right here," he said.
"I don't see them," the driver said. "You're gonna have to wait for the next one."
I looked back to see if the kids were coming. Not a single one of them in sight.
"I promise, they're here," said the little boy.
"You're gonna have to catch the next bus," said the driver.
The boy got out and stood on the sidewalk, watching us go. He did the only thing he could do: stuck his tongue out and wagged it at us as we pulled away.

Austin coffee cup girl and I smiled at each other and laughed.