Only on a Detroit bus...

Will you see multiple pine tree deodorizers!

Slow in the snow

The office closed early so I caught an early bus. Glad it was only approximately ten minutes behind schedule but it looks terrible on Gratiot and slow due to snow and blowing. I'd rather let the bus driver deal with snow and the cautious drivers.
Bus rides - entertainment.

Waiting For The Bus

This is what I saw this afternoon waiting in front of the City County Bldg. - It's cold.
Bus rides - entertainment.

Crowded bus

Haven't seen it this crowded in quite a while. Where are they coming from? Economy? Late earlier bus? The driver is speeding us along.
Bus rides / entertainment

Women For Obama Poster

I stepped to the rear of the bus and my co-rider picked up a poster and placed it in the advertisement section.

History Monday

This morning we were talking history on the bus.  It's funny what some folks remember and forget. It started with a recap of a vacation to Boston by one of the regulars.

Listening to the Tigers game on the bus can be...rewarding.

I wanted to watch the game so much this afternoon.  But wanting to go home won out.  I downloaded a radio app and settled in to listen.  Nothing is much more embarrassing than shouting, "Yeah!" when the Tigers scored to a busload of passengers who proceed to stare at you like you lost your mind!

Boogy Down!

Waiting for the bus this afternoon was quite entertaining. This young woman had her headphones in and was dancing like she was at the club. I mean really throwing down arms flailing, hips swaying & fancy foot work. You go tiny dancer! It made me smile.
Bus rides equal entertainment.

Reading and the bus...

I read on the bus. I read a lot. Sometimes people ask what I'm reading, and sometimes they don't want to know. Today was one of those days. An African American lady was curious what I was reading today. "This Republic of Suffering", is what I replied. Oh, how interesting! And what is that about? "Oh, how the United States dealt with the dead and dying during the Civil War." I got an "oh". Well, don't ask next time!

People don't watch!

Not so much a bus ride story, as much as a reminder to people to PLEASE be aware that people cross the street to the bus stop.  I almost got creamed this morning by this stupid idiot driving in the LH turn lane at 14 and Schoenherr.  Yes, it was raining.  Yes, it was dark.  Yes, I had a dark coat on.  And yes, the construction going on is annoying.  BUT.  You watch for pedestrians!

Older man watching movie

This old man on oxygen has a laptop open and is watching a movie on the bus this morning. It appears he doesn't own headphones. I'm surprised the driver doesn't tell him to shut it off.
Bus rides / entertainment.

Late Again!

Once again SMART is Late! What's the point of having a schedule?
Last evening's conversation was not politically correct. It involved a generalization regarding a Christian denomination. A regular rider pointed out the error in the statement. Way to go "Rosa Parks"!

Baby fun...

Today I had the pleasure of being entertained/annoyed by a cute baby who wanted my Nook really bad.  Really needed a diaper change bad too, but he was cute nevertheless...

Not my week for taking the bus!

This has not been my week for taking the bus. Tuesday, I decide to leave early and catch the 4:18pm - bus drove right past while I was walking to the stop; then as I was waiting for the next one, it rained. Hard. Wednesday, I attempted the same. Bus driver yelled at us for not waving him down and causing him to stop sharply. Number one, he was late, so he was speeding to begin with, and two, it's a regular stop. So he should have at least slowed to see if anyone was there. This morning? Bus never showed up. Waiting for the 7:02am until quarter after. Then said the heck with it - drove in. And brought two stowaways with, as well. Needless to say, SMART has a nastygram in their inbox.

Its Like Beauty Shop

Crowded this morning on the bus. Two women behind me are chatting and reminiscing like it's a beauty shop. Very entertaining though.

Driver is an ass!

Bus was coming like a bat out of hell.  It's a regular stop, so I figured he'd slow.  He wasn't.  This African American lady I was with waved like crazy and he screeched to a stop.  Whereupon he proceeds to say in a nasty voice, "You might want to wave next time, ladies.". We did, ya buttmunch!

Last Wednesday

The bus was running late last Wednesday which seems to be a new trend lately.  I boarded the full bus and upon paying and assessing where I may plop my rear I nearly tripped over a pile of plastic bags.  I sat on the opposite side of where the woman with the numerous bags and a winter coat were spilling into the aisle.  I could see she was bending the ear of the woman trapped beside her. The trapped woman was being polite but not totally engaged in the conversation.  The woman was pulling items out of one of her plastic bags looking intently for something.  It turns out she found her antibacterial ointment and a bandage and proceeded to bandage her finger.  She was talking about how lovely the neighboring woman's complexion was and how she remembered her grandmother using cold cream every night.  This woman was so into her chatting that she had missed Seven Mile completely and proceeded to ring the bell for the next stop all the while being concerned about getting to her girl friend's place.  A gentleman who was conversing with the driver helped the woman with the numerous plastic bags of stuff  off the bus and we went on our way.  As I sat there I glanced back three seats and noticed a man who was totally out of it and trying to stay upright in his seat as if he was on a completely different form of transportation - let's say a roller coaster. It was like watching a slow moving accident waiting to happen.  And wouldn't you know it, a short while later the bus braked to avoid running into something and the man hit his head on the seat in front of him.  I'm sure it hurt like hell but all he could do was to cup his face.  The man couldn't even keep his eyes open.  It was like watching a real live version of the Three Stooges.  The last thing I found amusing that morning was the numerous gawkers at an accident at I-75 and Gratiot, (near Eastern Market). There was a man who abandoned his scooter in the street to lean over the concrete wall to watch the goings on as if he were cured of a crippling disease. Some mornings are just chock full of amusing things.
bus rides = entertainment.

Bring out the Paddy-Wagon!

Got on the bus yesterday to head home over at the Woodward stop. We pulled up to the next stop to discover a police van working on picking up a guy who was so sauced he couldn't even stand. He sat on the ground watching the police officer snap on his gloves to come over and get him. You luck police officer, you!

Tried To Be Early... Really

This past Tuesday I actually woke without hitting the snooze several times and proceeded to get ready for my day in the usual fashion.  I was on a roll out the door into the cooler than I'm used to morning air and on my way to the 1/2 mile bus stop.  I was early enough to catch the last limited bus downtown and with time to spare.  I waited, watching the horizon and the multitude of vehicles passing by.  I spotted the bus about a half mile away and reached for my wallet to get my bus card. WHAT?! No wallet? You got to be kidding! No wallet means no taking the bus. So in a pissed off at myself mood I trotted home to fetch the wallet and take the next bus.  So much for being early that morning.
bus rides = entertainment.

Morning icebreaker

There were a couple people with me at the stop this morning so when I got on it was crowded in the aisle. I turned around to go toward the front and an older woman said to me, "we didn't sleep together last night for you to have your butt in my face." She offered the seat next to her and I sat down. I said, "if you would have sat here near the window my butt wouldn't have been in your face." She made small talk with a lady next to her and afterward told me she didn't mean any harm by her comment. She was a nice lady and made me smile this morning.
Bus rides equal entertainment.

Loud Morning Conversation

It's amazing how some people have no boundaries in public. These two middle aged women sitting several seats apart were obviously acquainted and were reminiscing about former lovers, family members and friends. Some of the conversation was not what I'd be blabbing out loud on a quiet morning commute. A regular morning rider turned around and caught me smirking and she started to smile and slightly shake her head as if to say, this is too much!
Bus rides equal entertainment.

Saved by my fellow riders from sitting on...

Raisins. I think. At least, I hope that is what that was. At least it didn't smell, but regardless, I don't think sweeping them off and sitting in a potential sticky spot was an option! Thank you, 530 riders!

Less than a week!

So much fun this morning on the 530 route. Young man comes running up to the bus so he wouldn't miss it. He asks everyone on the bus if they have change for a $5. I did not, so I didn't say anything. Two guys up front were kind enough to cobble together the change that he needed. He took the change and put it into the fare-box and started to the back. One of the guys was like, "Hey where is my $5?" This idiot never had any money to begin with. He said, "I never asked for change." and several of us were like, "Uh, yeah, you did!" Needless to say, he basically scammed two hard-working individuals out of their hard earned money. And the sad thing is, they will think twice before helping out another fellow passenger. Jerk.

I'm Back!!

Well, after more than a year, I am riding the bus once again. Back downtown this time, to Deloitte, one of the world's largest financial firms! I'm hoping to be posting all about interesting people and other's that ride SMART's bus system, so stay tuned!