Not exactly unrepairably dead, but the cost is certainly beyond my meager unemployment income and the value of the car. That means Metro and I have become close personal friends once again.
David pities me for having to ride the bus, but I actually kind of enjoy it. I grew up in a small town and public transportation is a fairly new thing for me. I had been riding the bus off and on for years - usually when the weather got too bad to risk sliding my car into something - and rode Metrolink every day when I worked downtown, but this the first time I've had to rely on Metro as my sole form of transportation.
Metrolink is relaxing, clean and a bit boring. Everyone is so polite and nothing unusual ever happens.
Metrobus, however, is a show on wheels. Every kind of person in the world is there, having loud conversations with each other, arguing with the driver about transfers, yakking loudly into their cell phones about highly personal things, lugging packages and kids down the aisle. I always see something either entertaining or disturbing on the bus or at the bus stop.
My favorite bus experience happened about a year ago when I was still working downtown. It was cold, there was snow everywhere, gas was creeping up in price, so I had been riding the bus to work a lot. One of the major places to catch a bus downtown is on Washington under the walkway between Dillard's and St. Louis Centre, both now closed. Just about every bus line passes through there at some point.
It was dark, it was snowing, I was tired and waiting for my bus to show up. An older gentleman with what sounded like a Bosnian accent walked up and asked me if the Gravois bus had been by yet. I told him that it had not, and that was the bus I was waiting for. The conversation went rapidly downhill from there:
HIM: Where you live?
ME: (guardedly) Um . . . Tower Grove.
HIM: I have seen you there. You have husband?
ME: No. I live with my boyfriend.
HIM: I kill your boyfriend.
ME: What? Why?
HIM: I kill your boyfriend, then I be your boyfriend.
ME: (backing up) Okay . . . . well . . . . Bye!
HIM: You know why?
ME: (regrettably) Why?
HIM: (putting his hand on his crotch) I am really hard right now.
I was too tired to do anything but laugh uncontrollably. He looked hurt and shuffled off into the darkness.
St. Louis is such an automobile town, and Metro just announced that they're cutting a bunch of bus routes next year, so eventually I will have to buy a car.
I'm still gonna ride the bus, though.
It's the cheapest show in town.
4 comments:
You're so lucky. You got to witness the rare mating ritual of the St. Louis street derelict.
Snacks on the bus, leave the driving to us.
If they raise the fares any higher (and they're gonna) they SHOULD start serving snacks.
I used to strategically arm myself for my bus commute to work. The best is when I worked the Tivoli and would leave with a two-foot long box of popcorn (leftovers from the concession were free). My plan was if anyone were to mess with me - I would bash them about the head with the box, popcorn flying everywhere. This would immediately send the signal that I was a bad-assed crazy and they would leave me alone. (In some ways I'm sorry I never got a chance to use it.)
I've always heard that if you didn't want anybody to bother you on Metro that you should just sit there and bark.
On Metrolink, they'd avoid you like the plague. On MetroBus, they really wouldn't pay you any notice.
I actually saw that happen on a crowded Metrolink car before a Cards game. Poor guy was barking with a totally empty seat next to him. Unfortunately, I think he really did have Tourette's.
Post a Comment