On Da SBS #15 bus

On Da Bus 

So, I was on the SBS #15 bus on the way to 29th Street and 2nd avenue.  I was seated in the very first seat (closest to the driver) on the four-seater on the right side of the bus.  There were three men seated to my left.  Thus filling those four seats.  

As we approached the next stop, I looked forward and saw through the window that there was a woman outside with a walker.  I knew she would need the seats that we were in as they are held for the handicapped passengers.  I got up and moved across the aisle to the other four seater and sat in the one seat that was available.  Again, the seat closest to the front of the bus, but now on the left side of the bus.

The fellow who had been sitting next to me decided to slide over and sit in the seat I had just vacated.  ???  Why???

The bus driver lowered the platform at the door for the woman.  The woman got on.  On her walker were six bags, all hanging from her walker.  And, she also had some contraption at the top side of the walker.  Don’t know what it was for  Maybe it contained hooks for more bags?  I don’t know how she was able to lift the walker as she walked on the sidewalk, nor how she lifted it to get into the bus.  Everything looked pretty heavy.  She shoved her way through the aisle and sat in the one seat in the middle that was empty.  Of course her walker was so wide with all the bags hanging from it that it was impossible for her to fit in the one seat.  A guy on the far end of the four seater got up.  The other guy on the far end slid further away.  The woman shoved herself into two seats and brought up her bags (which were still attached to the walker.  She filled the entire two seats and even overflowed into both side seats.

The guy in the first seat who slid over to my vacated seat looked very annoyed as the woman was totally in his way.  He finally got up and could barely achieve that because the woman’s bags were all in his way.  He got up and walked toward the back shaking his head.

Eventually more older people got on and one woman took the seat that the annoyed guy had vacated.  More older people got on and then the guy next to me got up to give up his seat to them.

So, continuing with the walker woman.  She now started rummaging gently into one bag closest to her.  She eventually drew out a very long bag that looked like a loaf of bread.  Crinkle, crinkle of the paper bag, then it looked like she tore off a small piece, put it in the open purse type bag on her lap.  More crinkle, crinkle and the paper bag of bread was once again replaced into the plastic bag that hung on her walker.  This search, find, and replace mission took an excessive amount of time.  Now the woman reached to the furthest bag, which was on the outside of her walker (she had to stretch) and there was more rummaging.  Eventually, she brought out what looked like a plastic sleeve with cheese.  She very carefully went into the package and removed what I assumed were some slices of cheese.  All the while she was doing all this search mission, the remaining guy to her left looked over every once in a while, as she was intruding into his space when she went into her food mission.  He had his cell phone out.  Now the woman became intrigued with his cell phone and stopped rummaging to stare at his phone.  The guy felt this and looked sideways at her.  Ok, now into the other bag on the outside of her walker she goes.  Dig, dig, dig.  Out comes what looks like a thermos.  She brings it close to her and unscrews it and starts to pour it into a cup.  The guy looks at her as if she is now going to spill it all over him.  She places the lid on the cup and I see that it is a gigantic cup like from Starbucks for the large size.  She replaces the thermos with some difficulty while jostling the guy next to her.  

So, he either had to get off the bus or decided to walk to the back and not get her coffee sloshed all over him.

So, now she has an empty seat to her left.  She gets out these wires (I thought maybe they were headphone wires).  She gets one end and stretches into the seat the guy just vacated and plugs her USB into the bus’s outlet.  I didn’t even know the bus had that.  I’ve never seen one in a city bus.  So now, it looks like she has rustled up her food and has her cell phone plugged in.  She begins to enjoy the labor of her efforts.  

I found this entire scenario exceedingly amusing.  From the annoyed first guy who shook his head and got up, to the methodical extricating of food and drink, to the woman reading the second guy’s cellphone, and lastly to plugging in her cell phone after she had chased everyone away with her antics and her need for a lot of space.