At Long Last

Readers, I'm sorry. It has been so long since my last post. I've been busy, yadda yadda yadda. Here are some snippets of what I've seen lately.

The 162.

Express 2 that I regularly take in the mornings and take as the later afternoon bus is really the 162. I love the 162. It's the last express bus from Kent Station and the back up bus in case I miss Express 1. Or in case it rolls into a wormhole on 2nd Avenue.

Imagine the series of emotions I experienced when I saw this sign the other morning:

Disbelief turned into shock, shock turned into anger, anger turned into sadness, and sadness turned back into anger. I still haven't gotten to the acceptance phase.

NOOOO! Oh my God. So now Express 1, Express 3, and the Sounder train in the mornings are going to be packed to the gills. In the afternoons, it's going to be a nightmare of people smashed on Express 1 and Express 3 (if they can catch it early enough). Or, we'll all have to try and get along on the 150.

Lovely.

I have no idea why Metro is cancelling this route. It's always got tons of people on it. Worst of all, I'm going to have to get up earlier and arrive at work well before I'm supposed to be there.

Bellevue.

Remember May Day and the ensuing chaos in downtown Seattle? Well, I got to leave work early that day. My amazing co-worker (let's call her Amy) helped me circumnavigate the traffic nightmare that would have been my commute home. She gave me a ride to the Bellevue Transit Center, which I love. From there, I caught the SoundTransit 566 to Auburn but I got off in Kent. All in all, I got home in a reasonable amount of time.

YAY! Bellevue Transit Center!

The Bellevue Transit Center is nice. It's clean, very safe, and there is a very special place there: The Rider Services Building. Located right across from the bus platform, the Rider Services Building has every paper bus schedule imaginable, ticket vending machines, and restrooms. Yes, restrooms! I was quite excited about the restrooms when I arrived there.

The two restrooms are unisex, and surprisingly quite unclean. I'm sure commuters wouldn't complain about it, as other Park and Rides don't have such amenities. It is an oasis for sure.

It is also an oasis for deep thoughts, especially for those who know Ryan. He is something else, that Ryan.

I can only hope Ryan sees this. Even if it isn't the same Ryan.

Some woman -- or man -- was sitting on the pot. They'd forgotten to bring in reading materials, like a schedule or the ever-so-handy Metro Rider's Guide, and their cell battery was dead. "Dammit!" the toileteer gasped. The person was left to reflect on their lives, their thoughts wandering to (naturally) Ryan and the impact he had on their future relationships.

Before exiting the restroom the commuter wondered aloud, "Why not share the magic of Ryan with others in the Bellevue Transit Center Rider Services Area restroom? That way, if they are stranded without anything to read, they can wonder which Ryan has blessed/ruined my life. I have a Sharpie in my purse (or messenger bag)." With a shrug and a smirk, the message was written on the stainless steel sink.

Thug Life

Living large on the 162.

It's really too bad thugs don't take as much pride in their penmanship as they do announcing they're thugs.

The Tourette's Girl

Note: If you or someone you love has Tourette's Syndrome, don't get mad at me for this next snippet.

It was very early one weekday morning and I had to catch an earlier bus to cover a co-worker's way-too-early duties. I ended up taking Express 3, which is a lot like Door #3 on Let's Make A Deal. You could get a NEEEWWW CAR or you could get a billy goat. If the billy goat appeared when the glittery movable wall retracted, the audience let out a collective sad "Awww" and the loser music came on. [wonk wonk wonnnnk.] In reality, hay, shelter, and water for the goat are much cheaper than routine maintenance, gas, and insurance for the car. Goats are rad. I don't know why the people who chose to trade $500 for the goat got so upset.

"Carol, let's see what's behind Door #3!"

Express 3 could go either way. However, Express 3 comes right down the main road by my street so it's one of my rare treats.
I got on the rather full Express bus and sat in the forward facing seats in the back. A few stops later, a young woman got on and sat in the way back middle seat. I don't like that seat because there's nothing to hold on to and I can imagine myself flying off the seat when the driver slams on the brakes on I-5.

This young woman was wearing quite an outfit. She had on a Halo gamer t-shirt, a well worn plaid shirt, neon pink Vans-like shoes, and...snakeskin print leggings. Yes. Snakeskin. Axl Rose would have been jealous of this girl's pants. Her hair was frizzle fried, bleached out and dried out.

A short while down the road, I've got my iPod on but not loudly. The Police were on. King of Pain. This song has many quiet parts, and during one of these lulls, I was shocked to hear some female on the bus shout out, "OH YEAH! SUCK MY CREAMY WHITE TITTIES!"

Whoa. I look around, stunned that someone would be shouting that on a bus, especially before 7:00 a.m. Unable to find the shouter, I resumed staring out the window.

"YEAH BABY, FUCK ME SO HARD!"

What the Hell?? Judging from the people sitting around me staring in awe at Snakeskin Pants girl, the vulgar yelling was coming from her. And it was vulgar. I am not easily offended, but she was saying some very concise phrases that made me uncomfortable. I'm sure others on their way to office jobs felt the same. Snakeskin Pants Girl had her earbuds in, listening to some very loud white rap group.

I know this because I paused The Police and removed my earbuds. I made eye contact with the woman sitting next to her. The woman looked disgusted. I smirked and we began trying not to laugh about the whole scene.

I tried to get a picture with my phone. I know I've disappointed you all by being too chicken to snap a pic, but she would have called me out on it. LOUDLY.

About halfway into town, her phone rang. She proceeded to let the entire bus know that she'd been out drinking until 4 a.m., she'd smoked weed, and she was intending to go to an all ages show later that night. But first, she'd have to go to Grandma's to sleep the night before off. Every other word was "fuck" or "fucking", as though it was a new, exciting word in her vocabulary.

She got a call on the other line.

"Fuck man, hold on. I got a fucking call on the fucking other line." <BEEP>
"Oh, hi Grandma! Yeah, I'm coming over to sleep for a little bit. I'll be over in a minute. Love yoooou!" <BEEP>
"Fucking it was my Grandma! Fuck yeah! Let's smoke some stick later then go to the show. Well I have to go in the next day for a drug test for that job interview, but fuck it! Let's go. I'll pass it anyway. Damn right."

Luckily for Grandma, Snakeskin Pants Girl successfully clicked over to the other line.

I did a Google search on snakeskin pants, and this pic came up. This is Miles Davis' ex-wife, Betty Mabry, a.k.a. Betty Davis. Apparently he divorced her because because she had an affair with Jimi Hendrix. She is 1,000% awesome.

I have other snippets from recent bus rides, but they'll have to wait. I promise to update more frequently. I'm so happy to see this blog has gotten over 3,000 hits (not counting my own). Thank you for hanging in there.