Saturday 25^th August

Another bus stop story…

On Thursday I caught an earlier bus, 4.15, not a worker commute bus.  Usually the buses I catch are full of similar-looking working people, wearing normal working clothes, normal conversations or non-conversations about the weather, and the days of the week.  “Thank God it’s Friday,” or “When Wednesday’s done the week is done.”  Not thrilling.  Predictable.

Outside working hours the bus travelers are quite different.  Lots of old people, lots of under-employed people.  A more cheery, less weary crowd, really.  On Thursday I sat on the bench, with my bag of groceries, next to a bright old bat with a walking cane.  She engaged everyone around her in an ongoing monologue about what was/wasn’t in her bag.  “So where is my bus pass?” she asked us, a bit accusingly.  She drew me and a fat young bloke with many piercings and tattoos into her vortex.  The other passengers stood back, warily, as she unearthed various items from her bag.  The out came a sleek, state-of-the-art MOUSE!  Unmistakably applemac… He waved it at us, a bit crossly, and said, “And what r to explain to her how it might connect to her computer, and she did, in fact, admit to owning a brand new iMac.  We spent quite a bit of time, fatboy and I, waving our arms a bit uselessly in the air, trying to explain how to download the wireless mouse application.  She sighed deeply and said, “I don’t get it.  And the people around me, in the retirement home, don’t have much of a clue.”  Fatboy brightened up and asked he if she had grandchildren to help her.  She rounded on him and said, “No I don’t have grandchildren!  And…I don’t have children!  I am a nun!  We’re not allowed to have children”