Further tales of riding the bus

In a previous post I told you all about some pretty nasty characters who I rode the bus with. I have now been riding the bus to work every morning and every evening for 5 weeks and I am glad to report that the previous characters were out of the ordinary. Firstly, I ride the same buses every day, which means the same bus drivers every day. My morning driver is woman and she always greets with a laugh and when you get off she commands you to have a good day in a trilling voice that echoes around the bus. My second morning driver is also a woman and I don't even have to pull the bell to stop the bus anymore as she now knows I always get off at the same place.

Sharing the morning bus with me is a lady who gets on at the same stop that I do. She always arrives about 30 seconds before the bus does, blowing hard. She makes the same comment to me every morning; "phoo, that hill, I dunno, phoo!". She is buddies with a few of the other daily riders. a large man, who semi-reclines over the same two front seats, and his lady friend who takes up half a seat she is so small. He has a booming laughing voice and she has a high twitter. Then there is "Dr. Pepper man". This guy has told us all repeatedly how all he ever has for breakfast is a Dr. Pepper and usually the soda is right there in his hand as evidence. He rests it on his not insubstantial chest so that the top of the bendy straw sits conveniently on his chin. I am always fascinated by how he doesn't end up with sticky soda on his chin. These four and the bus driver keep up a steady stream of chat and laughter till they have all got off one by one and only the bus driver is left, sitting high and dry in her seat.

The afternoon crowd are far more subdued. I always have the same bus driver but there isn't the daily rider crowd to make the ride interesting, which means I am able to actually get through more of my book.