BUScspades

Kind of a sad story this chilly Tuesday morning.

It's barely 7 am and a young man (I know this is anti-stereotypical profiling), about 25 -30yrs, good looking, not shabbily dressed, and carrying a half (opened) wine bottle attempts to board the bus.  He was obviously drunk.

The bus driver, rightly, refused him service as long as he had open liquor.  Kudos to the bus driver.

The first sad segment of this story is obviously the young man:

·         Drunk at 7 am on a Tuesday (not that any other day of the week would be better).

·         Wouldn't toss the wine and get a ride home.

·         He wasn't a belligerent drunk, just sad sounding.

The second sad, and the more disappointing, segment is the other passengers on the bus.  Two women - who were no spring chickens - sat laughing at this scene.  I couldn't disguise my distaste for their behaviour.  This young man is obviously not in a good place and they are enjoying his despair.

I know we have all become accustomed in this city to expect the “losers” of this world to be getting on the bus drunk in the North End or Downtown but “NOT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD”.  This young man is no different from the homeless addicts downtown in that he has a problem.  It’s certainly not normal for anyone of any race or social status to be drunk at this time of day and carrying an open liquor bottle around on the street.  I couldn’t help wondering what circumstance would have prompted his intoxication this morning.  Not unlike the unwanted homeless, it could have been depression or any number of mental illnesses, a time of acute distress, or an out of control addiction. Either way, it’s really just geography that sets him apart from the “downtown” drunks and we don’t openly laugh at them.  I guess the worst part about the whole thing is that like the other drunks, we didn’t offer help to this young man either.

Jenga

BUScapades

Well, there were rumours of S*** (snow) in parts of the city this morning so I wore my parka...and was glad to have done so.

This afternoon is an entirely different story, however. The sun is shining and it's morphed into a pretty decently warm day. So now I'm MELTING in my parka on the bus ride home.

This is so typical of Winnipeg weather -- known to flucuate as much as 30degrees in 24 hours. I should have known better. How does one, though, prepare for this? I do not fancy packing a bag with outerwear for any eventuality and toting it back and forth everyday. Which leaves me in the (enviable to be sure) position of freezing one minute and boiling the next.

I fear the only "out" is to move to a more even clime. "No way!", I say. I wouldn't give up this town for anything. No hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, deadly arachnids or slithery things. That's all I need to keep me here.

Jenga
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on the MTS High Speed Mobility Network

BUScapades

Pea coats. Colourful toques. Gloves. Ah Winter, you are bringing out the wooly fashionistas in all of us.

Where are my cozy mitts? Oh right, on my desk at the office I'm on my way toward. "I won't need those", I told myself Friday afternoon. Hands in pockets I guess.

Stay warm fellow bussers......snow is soon to rear it's ugly cold white head

Jenga
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on the MTS High Speed Mobility Network

BUScapades

Wow! Two posts in one day. As I type, there is a dude on rollerblades on the bus arguing with the driver about the safety and regulations about rollerblades on the bus. He's name dropping transit supervisor names (whom he's friends with on Facebook) who told him he could rollerblade on the bus.

If memory serves, and it generally does, rollerblades are prohibited if worn on the bus for OBVIOUS safety reasons for all passengers.

He's a total blowhard and lying through his teeth. The bus in front of us denied him entry.

Sigh....

Jenga
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on the MTS High Speed Mobility Network

BUScapades

Crap!  I knew Twitter would be my downfall!

Yesterday I "tweeted" to the transit poeple about an annyoing phenomenon on our city's buses.  Please allow me to regale you with the details here.

It was rush hour on the way home and there were 3 people (apparently together) each with a huge stroller with toddlers aboard taking up the seating reserved for the handicapped.  In total, they were eliminating 8 seats from the bus.  There were several peole standing and an elderly woman with a walker got on.  She had to squeeze past the offenders and nearly fell twice.  A decent guy gave up his seat, helped her sit, and folded up her walker.

Now, in this blogger's humble (?) opinion, the offending parents should have folded strollers, kids on laps, and taken only 4 or 5 spaces - which is still excessive but would allow for handicapped passengers to ride safely.

It is my understanding that our fair city is the only major city to allow strollers on the bus without being tucked away.

Anyone care to weigh in?  Share my righteous indignation?

I'm including a "busology" cartoon borrowed from the Winnipeg Transit website.

Some people make an obstacle course out of the aisle with strollers, and packages. Please keep your belongings out of the way of other passengers

Jenga

BUScapades

There's a blood moon out this morning. A perfect orb of glowing orange. My superstitious side wants to hail it as an omen....or maybe it's just science.

I want so badly to take a picture but alas I'm "enjoying" public transit this morning and I fear the other riders will not like me taking pictures over their heads. I knew I should have sat on the other side!
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on the MTS High Speed Mobility Network

BUScapades

Kudos to the bus driver on route 62 this morning! She actually stood up at a stop and asked the kid with the blaring music in his earphones to turn it down.

Sitting close to someone who is giving themself permanent hearing loss is incredibly annoying, not to mention inconsiderate.

Good for you driver!

Jenga
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on the MTS High Speed Mobility Network

BUScapades

OK. I freely acknowledge that I'm not a small person and as such, I'm aware of what spaces my body will fit in. It's like paralell parking a Cadillac. You are not going to back it into a space the size of a VW Bug.....right? (Yes, in this scenario I'm a large but luxurious overpriced car)
It's a shame the lady who sat next to me on the bus this morning failed "spacial relations" in fifth grade. She backed her "minivan" ass into a space for a scooter next to me. This, I'm sure caused discomfort for the third person on our bench as well. She then proceeded to reach into her pocket - elbow in my face - numerous times to retrieve books and read several texts.
How she found this arrangement comfortable I will never know.

Sigh.

Jenga
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on the MTS High Speed Mobility Network