Bus Driver in Purgatory

Our jobs. We work to finance our lives. We work to eat. We work to put the roof over our heads. My life is in a transitional phase right now. Shifting from one endeavor to the next. In the interim, I drive a bus. In between a failed business and the next thing, I have chosen to expedite the masses from one section of their lives to the next.

Some people identify themselves by what they do for a living. Some people do what they love for a living. I drive a bus. Neither here nor there. Not a failure but not a boon to my existence. Simply a means to an end. An honest and decent living for a self-proclaimed honest and decent man.

To the men and women and others who choose to ferry the people across town in mid-day traffic, I salute you. A noble, honest, and underappreciated task.

I have grander schemes, shoes to fill that are currently 10 sizes too big. I dream of bigger and better things, things that challenge me, things that make me uneasy. Driving the bus is easy. The wheels on the bus go round and round.

Yesterday a young person with a child in a stroller boarded an already 3/4 full bus. I was the driver. The person smiled at me, and I said hello as they paid the fare and went to find a seat. The very familiar ringtone of an ever-popular smartphone made by a fruit company sounds off. This is what follows.

"Hello" she answered comfortably

.....

"Hey, not much, and you?" with a little volume added.

.....

"He said we would do that tomorrow" more volume still.

.....

"And what did you say?"

The half of the half-witted conversation that I could hear continues at an above-average volume as to contend with the raucous group of pre-mustache teen males at the rear and the accelerating, decelerating of the bus.

I could see in my mirror that the elderly couple with the walkers is annoyed with her. Her obliviousness to their comfort was irking me. Her complete disregard for everyone around her was beginning to nag at me, and then this.

"Yeah, I met her online," she says.

.....

"She's bi-sexual." she said

It was with this comment that I went from annoyed to concerned and paying attention to the passenger.

"We hooked up on Thursday and it was great."

I am not sure why at this point in my life people and their B.S. still catch me off guard. I have witnessed humanity in some very off-putting situations.

"She has a boyfriend and she said he would come over too next time we hooked up."

I am all for people being free to fraternize with all the consenting adults they wish. I fully promote sexual freedom if a person is happy and of sound mind.

What I do not condone is having a sexually charged conversation on public transit, with the elderly and minors within earshot. The situational awareness of some people is abhorrent.

"Can you not talk about your sex life in public?" I bellow from the drivers' compartment.

"Hold on, the driver's yelling at me. What did you say?" she hollers back.

"You heard me."

"No, I didn't. I'm deaf in one ear."

The silence of my response was undeniably more deafening than the silence in her one ear.

"I go to go."

.....

"The bus driver told me to shut up. I will call you later."

The elderly couple gave me a thankful nod as they disembarked the bus. The boys in the back slowly returned to being themselves. The oversharing young woman rode the rest of the way in silence.

One small step for mankind.