It’s my first day heading to work after moving to a new apartment. I get on the bus around 7 AM. My guide dog (Guide Dog 1 from a previous post) is under my seat with her head poking out a bit into the aisle.
A few stops down route and this drunk lady gets on and sits right next to me. I’m a little annoyed but it’s public transit and a lack of personal space is par for the course.
“Oh, a doggy,” she slurs in Spanish, attempting to pet my dog’s head. Unfortunately she misses and starts petting my leg instead. I jump up and relocate to another seat, but not before telling the woman “Please don’t touch my dog, and don’t touch me either.” The rest of the ride she’s groping the air in the general direction of my dog.
Some other anecdotes in no particular order:
Someone in the back of the bus screaming “It’s my birthday WOOOOOOOO!”
A lady ranting at the driver to stop for a good 20 minutes because she has to pee
A smelly bum falling asleep on my shoulder
I have to mention a time where I was probably the strange one: after the lockdowns ended but while masking was still common, I would wear a full respirator with face shield, basically a gas mask, while on the bus. My rationale is that a normal paper or cloth mask stops the wearers germs from getting out but doesn’t do so well at stopping them from getting in. I can’t see who is or isn’t wearing a mask, so I’m going to wear something that WILL protect me against the non maskers.
EDIT:
Oh and the time my bus got cut off by another bus and the driver got out and started yelling at the other driver. I was already within walking distance of my destination, so I just noped off the bus before it could escalate.
EDIT 2:
same bus as the drunk dog petter, this guy would get on at the stop after mine. I called him Mr. Bucket because he always carried this large white plastic bucket that smelled absolutely foul.
EDIT 3:
I get on a bus (different city) while wearing a lanyard with a name badge on it. I forget to slip the lanyard under my shirt, and this lady leans in and grabs the lanyard to examine the card.
Her: “You’re from [name of place on the lanyard]?”
hoo boy have I got a story for you!
It’s my first day heading to work after moving to a new apartment. I get on the bus around 7 AM. My guide dog (Guide Dog 1 from a previous post) is under my seat with her head poking out a bit into the aisle.
A few stops down route and this drunk lady gets on and sits right next to me. I’m a little annoyed but it’s public transit and a lack of personal space is par for the course.
“Oh, a doggy,” she slurs in Spanish, attempting to pet my dog’s head. Unfortunately she misses and starts petting my leg instead. I jump up and relocate to another seat, but not before telling the woman “Please don’t touch my dog, and don’t touch me either.” The rest of the ride she’s groping the air in the general direction of my dog.
Some other anecdotes in no particular order:
I have to mention a time where I was probably the strange one: after the lockdowns ended but while masking was still common, I would wear a full respirator with face shield, basically a gas mask, while on the bus. My rationale is that a normal paper or cloth mask stops the wearers germs from getting out but doesn’t do so well at stopping them from getting in. I can’t see who is or isn’t wearing a mask, so I’m going to wear something that WILL protect me against the non maskers.
EDIT:
Oh and the time my bus got cut off by another bus and the driver got out and started yelling at the other driver. I was already within walking distance of my destination, so I just noped off the bus before it could escalate.
EDIT 2:
same bus as the drunk dog petter, this guy would get on at the stop after mine. I called him Mr. Bucket because he always carried this large white plastic bucket that smelled absolutely foul.
EDIT 3:
I get on a bus (different city) while wearing a lanyard with a name badge on it. I forget to slip the lanyard under my shirt, and this lady leans in and grabs the lanyard to examine the card.
Her: “You’re from [name of place on the lanyard]?”
Me, unable to lie at this point: “…yes”.
Yeah, if you ride public transport enough you get a lot of stories. While I do not encourage it, I do look back fondly on some of it.