In this cold snap, I've been riding the bus to work. When it gets cold, or is raining hard, the bus gets packed with people. Like a subway car, the buses have seats along the sides and have poles along the middle to hold onto as you ride. Also, the drivers are similar to subways. Some of the drivers are awesome, clearly announcing the the stop you are at and the stop you are going to next. They take off and stop appropriately. Then there are the drivers that choose to not announce at all or mumble things. There are drivers that slam on the gas pedal and the brakes throughout the journey. This, of course, makes it easier to get to know your neighbors who you bump into quite frequently as someone standing.
If you want to get a sense of who the real people of Brooklyn are, you need only to ride the bus and listen. The wealthy don't ride the bus. Also, the poorest people can't really ride the bus. Only those people who have some money ride the bus. People from all different ethnicities ride the bus. Polite people give up their seats to the elderly or those with children. Not many people are polite in this city, though, I've found. Sometimes you do see great people doing good things.
This morning, I made the mistake of not looking before I sat and sat in some viscous liquid. Fortunately, it only got on my trench coat. I tried to wipe it off with my handkerchief. It didn't smell like anything and at least it wasn't urine.
There are plenty of kids who ride the bus to school, parents riding the bus to work, and folks who ride the bus with me are sometimes on their way to the hospital. Today's ride was particularly packed. I think that the driver got some sadistic pleasure out of watching everyone fall into each other each time he slammed on the brakes.
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