Lachat.com

Ah the bus stop. Bane of my existence. I think hell is just one large bus stop with all the bad people crammed around the last bit of shade. Flies crawl on your leg from the overflowing trashcans. People smoke with reckless abandon next to the "no smoking" signs. The wait for the bus seems to never end. Every possible bus except yours passes by in quick procession. And of course, its the perfect place for people to beg, or in this case, demand money.

People take advantage of one's good nature at the bus stop. Anyone who regularly takes the bus probably knows the feeling of coming up just short of bus fare. Grifters know this and beg for "just enough" money to get a bus ride, then walk off. I've seen one character wearing nice clothes and carrying a backback do this regularly near the university bus stops. His clothes and demeanor fit the bill of being a student. However, begging for bus fare daily is highly suspect.

One day I was waiting at the University stop, and some young 'lady' was laying down on a bus stop with a long umbrella next to a couple of her boy friends. "Can I have a dollah?" she demanded.

"No." I said plainly to her.

"Why not?" she asked.

Feeling sarcastic, I replied, "Because you didn't ask nicely."

"May I have a dollah? Oh, may I have a dollah please?" she tried again.

"No, sorry." I replied.

About this time she yelled, "HE WON'T GIVE ME A DOLLAR!" From then on she just acted plain goofy. She swung her umbrella around wildly, waved at traffic. She went back over to her male compatriots and started singing village people songs. "We are family..." she began, not really intending on finishing any one verse.

At one point, during a lull in traffic, she laid down in the middle of a lane in the road for a while. As she got up, she noticed a police car in the opposite side of the median and said, "Oh shit." However, the officer apparently didn't notice her antics, or perhaps, turned a blind eye.

When the A bus came, unfortunately, she boarded, having no trouble paying for the fare I noticed. She continued her loud antics on the bus.

Perhaps next time she lays down in the road... oh never mind.