People on the Bus

I have been riding the bus for my whole life. It's the only way I get around.

Bus Drivers - I hate bus drivers, or at least most of them. I hate it when they stop the bus to buy a donut at the coffee shop, or when they refuse to open the door when they're about to leave. But what gets me most is the way they treat teen parents. Every single time I see a teen parent with a stroller, I never see the bus driver help them get on the bus, or off of it. However, if the mother was about thirty-something, that's a different story. In that case, they'll get off their fat asses and wobble on down the stairs to help carry the stroller up. What the fuck's up with the bus drivers? They automatically assume that these teen mothers are sluts or something, and that they don't deserve help getting on the bus. Somehow, for the bus drivers, these single parent mothers are sub-human, and not worthy of their help. They're not respectable, not like those thirty-somethings who are already married and work for their money. If I had the opportunity to ask the bus drivers some questions I'd ask the following: Maybe those teen parents are married? Maybe they're not on welfare and actually work? Maybe they just look young? But the most important point is this: it shouldn't matter how old a mother is, or if she is married or not. We should help her out whenever we can. Would it be right if the teen mother tripped and fell, and the baby's skull got cracked open? Is this the moral lesson you're trying to teach? That if you are a single parent you deserve to lose your baby? I wish these bus drivers would dig deep into their hearts and find that little thing called humanity. If you're on the bus, maybe its winter and the stairs are wet, help out a teen mother get on the bus. That's what I do. I mean, it's hard enough raising a child alone. It takes a village..

The Epileptic - My mom once came home from work, and told me about a man on the bus who had a seizure. He was sitting two seats in front of her on the bus, and started shaking violently. He was about to tip over and fall to the ground, and the people around him did nothing to help, so my mother leaped forward to hold him up. My mother didn't know what to do. She asked people to help her out, but no one did. In fact, one Filipino lady got scared, started screaming and ran to the back of the bus. Everybody just sat there, and did nothing but stare. What's with people these days? Why are people so immature that they have to be afraid of a sick person? Why must everybody look out for themselves? What's happened to helping others, philanthropy? When the bus finally arrived at the bus stop, an ambulance was waiting, and the man was rushed to hospital. A bunch of people thanked my mother, but I wonder why their gratitude couldn't have translated into actual help when it was needed. It is strange that the first reaction by some people is to run away, rather than help like others. If you see someone in danger, and there is absolutely no risk to you, why not help them out?

Crazy People - There's four main crazy people on Mississauga Transit. The first is this crazy Maltese guy. He walks around in the summer time in winter gear, toque, snow jacket and all. He started talking with me one day and people began to move away. I thought it was rather entertaining to hear him talk crazy, but it got annoying when he began repeating "I'm from Malta". The second guy is an Indian guy, he came in one day with mucus running down his face, and it began dripping off his chin on to the floor. Occasionally he would wipe it with his jacket sleeve and these mittens he had on. He had this big grin on, and he reminded me of a kindergarten kid. He once said he had a girlfriend, and he used to stare at the pretty girls on the bus, I felt really sorry for him. The third crazy guy, I'm not too sure about. He had a stocky, fat, short sort of build. He had this really small head, was balding, had a moustache and wore earphones. He walked around the bus station talking to people and himself, sort of mumbling and wobbling along at the same time. I always wondered what he was listening to on that walkman of his. I mean, do crazy people have a preference to certain music? The fourth crazy person is the dancing girl. Every morning she would ride the bus to Cawthra Park. At the bus stop however, she would start dancing while listening to her music. The crazy part was that her dances had all these moves in them. I'm talking about the Egyptian, or the churn, or some other moves she choreographed. She always closed her eyes, and you could tell she was in total ecstasy, while she lip-synched those hits. I admired her because no matter how much people stared and gawked, she kept dancin'. I wanted to interview her once, but she started dancing as I approached, and I got scared.

Glasses Guy - There's a guy who wears glasses that are half an inch thick and have a concavity of this "(" . He walks around with a blind man's cane, and he can't see anything unless it is 10 cm from his face. He smiles a lot, and thinks to himself a lot, it must be lonely not being able to see the world. He's big, and so are is his teeth. His big ears are bent, concave like his glasses. He gets stared at. He doesn't notice. Ernie- I met this mentally challenged guy on my bus route. He was a great guy, he was just like a kid. He was so excited about seeing "The Lost World", and he worked at Blockbuster Video at Mavis and Eglinton. I thought it was a nice gesture by the store to give him a job, considering he picked his nose most of the time.