Crazy Trumps Waiting for the Bus. Any Day.
Waiting for the bus this morning, in Philadelphia, I noticed a woman standing in the street staring at the bus stop. Or staring at me sitting in the bus stop. Standing, in the bus lane, staring at me. That was my first clue. Then, as she unwrapped her egg sandwich (on a hoagie roll, like the kind from a truck), she began to talk, then yell, possibly at her sandwich.
Then I decided to get up and walk out of the bus shelter. But, I couldn't go far, as I was actually waiting for a bus. And, I knew that I probably didn't have time to make it to the next stop, without missing the bus while in between.
An NJ Transit bus came and sat for an unusually long time, so in an effort to see if my bus was coming up behind it, I got closer to the shelter. Too close.
"Get out of here, f-ing bitch!"
I honestly don't know if that was directed at me or the bus. Or any of the number of invisible people who were apparently giving her a rough time this morning. So, I hid, behind the advertisement on the far end of the shelter. She was eating a sandwich and the bus stop bench was a far better place than standing in a lane of traffic, right?
A grown woman, hiding, waiting for the bus.
What was I supposed to do? She didn't seem homeless, just, unmedicated. I considered telling the Center City District folks that were cleaning the streets, but what do I say?
"Uh, excuse me, there's a mentally ill woman who's kicked me out of the bus shelter."
"And, she's not even waiting for the bus!"
Labels: crazy, NJ Transit
Dollar Dog Hangover
I haven't posted in a while and... so. many. things. to. say. So, I'm going to try to get going on shorter, more frequent posts.
1. Transit: I'm still riding the bus. I've figured out that the slightly later bus is less full which is better. It doesn't solve the motion sickness problem, but I haven't had to share a seat in months. I've also figured out that I can read the Metro (that small, short clips, free newspaper) during the times that the bus is stopped for more than a second and so I get my fill of Get Fuzzy everyday.
2. Food: It's tough to talk about food today because as the title says, I've got the dollar dog hangover. Phillies game last night. Good times. Too many hot dogs. I'm not even blaming the beer because we found Red Hook ESB on tap near our seats. Counting a Camden Riversharks game over the weekend, last night marks my third game of the season. I'm hoping eventually it will actually be warm at one of these games.
3. Places and Spaces: In a week and a half we leave for 4 days on Kiawah Island, SC to meet up with J's mom, stepdad, sister, bro-in-law, and their kids. I'm psyched to eat fresh seafood and see the kids. M is getting old enough to be fun and we are bringing cool gifts like a good aunt and uncle should. Because technically, we're all they've got for aunts and uncles. My only concern is that I'm not entirely sold on Kiawah Island because if you search for it on flickr you end up with 2300 pictures of people standing in front of a sign that says "Kiawah Island Inn." There have got to be other pictures to take.
Labels: family vacation, food, NJ Transit, Phillies
"If you've got a habit, you gotta have a job."
I ride the bus with some really interesting people. And, by interesting, I mean people with addictions. Not much that I hear really surprises me anymore. In my first week of riding the bus to work, I learned that if you crush an extended-release Xanax before you take it, you'll get the full rush of the drug... no need to wait all day for the slow extended-release part. Now, if you were also lucky enough to have remembered a tall malt beverage for the bus ride, you are really in for a treat. By the time you get home, you won't have to worry about your wife asking you to mow the lawn. These are things I never gave much thought to, being someone who's been on the straight and narrow for most of her life. Today, I heard the headline quote: If you've got a habit, you gotta have a job. Which is an interesting perspective, because I always thought that being an addict meant that eventually you'd lose your job (and your home, loved ones, etc). This is probably a result of the anti-drug education that I was exposed to (the same education that gave me the stereotypical addict image - ie the people I ride the bus with who have visible signs of a long history of drugs and alcohol - and did not prepare me for the fact that an elderly nun could be an alcoholic) . However, there are a fair number of people who I ride the bus with to and from their jobs that seem to be holding down a full-time job to support their habits. I suppose it's a matter of balance. (From what I've seen, it's a delicate balance, that could come crashing down at any moment.) And, really, if you think about it, aren't most of us holding down full time jobs to support our habits? Mine include good food, good wine, handbags, and living in the city. If I could give any one of those up, I probably wouldn't have to work as hard as I do. Labels: habits, NJ Transit, work
