Haters

It was raining (again) last night, so I took the bus home from work instead of walking.

(I had planned to do the same thing last week one evening but the 10 bus kept vanishing off the map. I walked the bus route all the way home and never got passed by a single bus in over an hour. This is a bus that is scheduled to be every 20 minutes but lately it has been horrible.)

Last night, however, to my great surprise, the bus turned up more or less when expected, which was especially delightful since I was standing on a shelterless corner in the pouring rain.

The bus ride home was uneventful until not far from my house when the bus was unable to pull over at a stop because a couple of guys had double parked to unload something. The bus driver honked at them and opened the door.

"You can't park there," he informed them. He was a large man, African American, with a jolly, playful demeanor.

"Screw you!" One of them sniped in response. "We're just unloading."

"You can't even unload here," he clarified for them.

"F*#@ you. You can't give us a ticket anyway so get outta here."

"Oh ho ho! That's perfect." The driver gleefully stood up and opened the little gate next to his seat. "Yes I can!"

He stepped down off the bus and wrote the guy a $250 ticket.

When he stepped back on the bus, everyone cheered. He grinned and sat down, closing the gate behind him. Before closing the door he waved to the Unloaders.

"The city thanks you!"