Day 164--- Chatty Transit Kathy...

Wow, so this whole job thing is not all its cracked up to be... I don't know how I ever did it before... For those of you that are just joining me, I have been jobless for about 8 months now, partially by choice taking some time off to travel and what not, but I had been looking for about 2 of those 8... Anyways, I started yesterday, and I have never felt so sleep deprived in my whole life... I know working 9 to 3 is no big deal, but for someone who has made noon breakfast time for more than half a year believe me it is torture... Enough about me though, we have plenty of time for that in the future, how about we have a gander at the chatty bus riders of the world...

If you are someone who has always owned a car and never been forced to utilize public transit, this is one of the reasons you can consider yourself lucky.... Other than the fact you have obvious freedom, you can drive and sing full blast, and you don't have to carry home 8 bags of groceries, the chatter box bus rider is one more reason to consider yourself lucky... Today after I had my ever so long 6 hour work day I just so happened to sit next to one of these people...

I have to admit, part of me feels bad for this post because the world would be a much nicer place if everybody was a little more open and friendly in this way... But the truth is that it is not, and we are not, so that makes it weird when you have some perfect stranger trying to interview you for an entire ride... The lady today just so happened to be a jokester, I don't quite remember how the nearly one sided conversation started because I was half asleep. But I do remember the point that she asked which bus she should take to Wal-Mart, and I politely responded with the correct answer, to which she replied, "You would know... just kidding"... Yes, she backed herself up with the just kidding, but from someone who is a huge smart ass I know that is what you say when you mean something but just don't want the person you said it to to get pissed... Now I will have you know that I have been to Wal-Mart one time in the past 3 months, and that just so happened to be on Saturday when I wrote my Wal-Mart/Seuss post, but apparently to this lady I looked like a regular...

Often times you will find that these chatter boxes will talk even when no one is listening, now this could be a sign of anything from the early crazies or just sheer loneliness, whatever the case may be this is certainly the most entertaining of the group... I may have mentioned a few months ago when there was a guy on the bus who was laughing at Christmas lights, he was definitely more on the drugged/crazy side, but this didn't make him any less watch-able or interesting in my opinion... Every time someone new got on the bus he would kindly point out all of the lights that we were passing, I found this very convenient, it was like I was on a free tour. I may not have noticed these lights if it were not for his perceptive expertise...

When it is all said and done, as annoying as these people may be at times, to the less social of us out there. I have to admit that they are certainly a lot better than all of the douche bags that I have encountered over the years... Keep in mind I have spent the past 6 years car-less, from NYC, to Hawaii, back over to L.A, and even in the Midwest, I have seen my fair share of public transit oddities... Even though it may be a slightly less convenient way to tool around the earth at least I am doing my part to cure that gaping hole in the ozone... Who am I kidding, I don't really care about that, its just a hell of a lot cheaper than paying for gas and car insurance...

PS. This post also counts for people on subways, although I feel we are a little less chatty down there...