The Wheels on the Bus....

I love people watching. The airport is great for it. All walks of life go through an airport. I can't ever read or do puzzles while waiting for a flight because I'm so busy watching everybody around me and making up stories for why they're going to the same place I'm going.

But what I've really been thinking of lately is the sort of people you meet on the bus. It often depends on the part of town you're in and the time of day. It depends on the size of the city--I've ridden the bus in Houston, and in Taos, NM, which is, obviously, much smaller. Riding the bus when everybody is heading to work or back home at the end of the day is rather bland. People tend to be deep in their own thoughts and keep to themselves.

But in the middle of the day, when you get on the bus and you're the only passenger, you might find yourself having an animated, pleasant conversation with the bus driver. And then that bus driver might suddenly offer to let you drive the bus. At which point you freak out because (1) you're a stickler for the rules, and driving a bus without a special license is definitely against the rules, and (2) a person who apparently isn't a stickler for rules is operating a very large vehicle in which you're riding without any kind of restraints. Yep, that's my stop right there, have a nice day, bye now.

Sometimes the bus driver is awesome, like the guy who gave me the impromptu tour in Taos. It was a small bus, and easy to have a conversation with everybody on it. There was the lady who smelled like cats and talked about her fifty (fifty!!!) felines. Yes, I met the cat lady. She's nice. Then there was the guy who opened the conversation by pointing to houses way out in the foothills and saying, "That's where the aliens live." Hoo boy, that became a long ride.

When we first moved to Albuquerque, I tried figuring out a way to take the bus to work, but the bus schedule didn't jive with mine. I enjoy public transit for many reasons, of which people watching is one. But driving the bus is not for me.