(More) bus stories

Alright.
Having received an email from a friend overseas telling me that she reads my blog (thanks C) I felt so inclined to write about my trips back & forth on the bus over the last two days acquainting her with my neighborhood as such.
Yesterday,true to form I managed (again) to miss the bus by seconds and then with coffee in hand, leaning against the posted bus sign, I waited as various buses passed by.
Nothing is more injurious than to watch numerous buses pass by me with a sign up reading "sorry".
Anyway, once on the bus I made my way to the next stop and onto my appointment.
I don't mean any disrespect but riding any bus is really good for people watching and at times, seeing humanity at it's best(?)
When changing buses I have no clue as to time arrivals. I take my chances knowing full well that buses run every 10 minutes more or less, most likely more.
However, I have a rule and that rule simply is:
"No running to catch a bus" The reason why is that I never have any guarantees that the guy is going to wait for me. Sometimes I see it happen but most likely you have just made the guy grumpy, not to mention the 20 or so folks that are now glaring at you.


On my ride back home I watched as a man in his work suit take a seat just ahead of me. He was obviously hot as he removed his suit jacket and folding it in half, placed it over the seat ahead of him. Something I thought was a bold move.
Sure enough, at the next stop someone decides to sit where he has placed his jacket.
I observe that this woman is wearing one of those clingy dresses with a diagonal pattern of black & white stripes. Clingy dresses usually do not hold up well in hot weather and the somewhat out of fashion stripes made her a very obvious attention getter. But that's me again just people watching.
She sat back against his jacket, settling in for her ride.
I surmised, what are the odds? There are many open seats but for some reason she chose the one that this fellow had already claimed. This I found interesting.
This is something I always find interesting.
What exactly is someone's criteria for selecting a seat on any bus.
Speaking for myself, I prefer the seats higher up so that I can look out the front window and ahead. And, if that doesn't work then my next favorite place is the double seat right smack in the center of the bus adjacent to the back doors.
Very convenient.

So today I have another trip to make.
This time on the bus ride back home I observe an older lady sitting in a window seat next to a man who looks Asian. Of what culture I do not know but, at some point she makes a point of getting up past him to take the aisle seat just ahead of him.
This makes me think that seat selection is a bit like a chess game in play.
Rook move ahead one and over to the left.
Pawn moves to the right.
"All the way back" the bus driver shouts loudly.
Someone thinks he is the King.
A fellow of large girth steps onto the bus and makes his way down the aisle stopping midway and remains standing holding onto the grey strap overhead.
I catch the raised eyes of a 6 year old as he looks his sisters way. They are just inches away from him. There is no getting past this fella.
I think that people freeze inside when someone else enters the bus, especially when you have that empty seat next to you. This must account for those annoying people who sit on the outside to forbid you from actually having the window seat. Their whole body language screams, "move along buster and you too lady".
Anyway, you can see them hold their breath as they stare straight ahead but mark my words, they know you are there.

When I am not observing people I find the advertising on buses of some interest.
On my right side is a couple of different advertisements. One is for contacts the other for pimples. Nice.
On my left is an ad for the Cancer agency. The picture shows a Rembrandt type of woman, standing in a garden intended to depict Eden.
She (?) sports a mustache and flowing red locks that cover the appropriate places indicating modesty. The caption reads, "the world needs women" get a Pap test.
Is this an indication of the clientele riding our buses? More the question, do people (other than myself) actually pay attention to these signs I wonder?
I pull the cord for my stop only to realize that I could of travelled ahead on to one stop closer to my destination.
No worries as they say.
It is a beautiful, hot, sunny day and my next bus is just around the corner.
I hope.