Last night was truly a bus hoppers adventure. We started off the night by jumping on the lovely 51 that never fails to surprise us. After a brief ride down to Shattuck we waited almost too long for the 18. But oh it was worth it.
Somehow sitting backwards on the 18 proved to be quite disorienting and there was not even any alcohol involved.
However, there was a man in a wheelchair who was pretty chatty. When it was his stop he said "Open Sesame!" as the bus driver opened the doors. There was also a very angsty Berkeley-High kid who looked like he stepped out of "My So-Called Life"...he was probably angry that he was missing out on Comic-Con this year.
After our 51 and 18 adventures we put in some good times with 75-year-olds...wow, they can sure party.
Coming home was a different sort of adventure. The 18 wasn't living up to its expectations, so we took a big chance and took the 79.
If the 79 was an animal, it would be a small dog...so compact.
We had the whole bus to ourselves which was so nice as we were able to admire the graffiti art on the seats. And sure enough the 79 didn't fail as we ended up where we began.
Oh AC Transit, we love you.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Pregnant on the 51
As I picked up the 51 to come back from an underwhelming movie experience tonight I was surprised, but not that surprised to find myself face to face with a large woman exposing most of her body for the entire world to see. Upon turning to my right to investigate the questionable grunting coming from her side of the bus I noticed her shiny patent boots with faux fur tapping to a non-existent beat. She then moved seats to sit directly next to me and starting sneezing uncontrollably.
I am not sure whether she was pregnant or selling her body to the dimly-lit bus, but whatever it was it wasn't working for me.
I am not sure whether she was pregnant or selling her body to the dimly-lit bus, but whatever it was it wasn't working for me.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Groundhog Day
Since today is in fact February 2nd, 2010, Groundhog Day, I decided to write about an experience I had on the 51 last Friday which will probably occur via deja vu sometime in the future.
As I got on the extremely packed bus with everyone getting off work and school I realized that I was surrounded by many high school boys from Oakland Tech. Though I thought they would surely be discussing their crazy plans for the weekend, but instead they were discussing how "hecka good" Led Zeppelin was. This made me smile.
I hope these surprises occur on my bus adventures more often.
As I got on the extremely packed bus with everyone getting off work and school I realized that I was surrounded by many high school boys from Oakland Tech. Though I thought they would surely be discussing their crazy plans for the weekend, but instead they were discussing how "hecka good" Led Zeppelin was. This made me smile.
I hope these surprises occur on my bus adventures more often.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The First Sunny Bus Day
Today I got to ride on one of the old-school 51s on my way to work.
Things were pretty subdued, except for the bus driver. She was having an elaborate conversation with the semi-homeless man in the front of the bus about eliminating all the negative people out of her life. A lot of it had to do with God but it made sense for the most part.
However, the quote I took away from this ten minute ride was the wise advice that the homeless man left us all with: "Your flesh wanna do it, but your spirit say no."
End scene.
Things were pretty subdued, except for the bus driver. She was having an elaborate conversation with the semi-homeless man in the front of the bus about eliminating all the negative people out of her life. A lot of it had to do with God but it made sense for the most part.
However, the quote I took away from this ten minute ride was the wise advice that the homeless man left us all with: "Your flesh wanna do it, but your spirit say no."
End scene.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Cats and Dogs Falling on the 51
This morning at 8:35 a.m. I waited for the 51 to come. According to Nextbus.com, an often reliable website, the bus was supposed to arrive in 10 minutes—at 8:40 a.m. As I stood there at the bus stop, I nearly died.
8:35 a.m. could have been any time of day because of the Hollywood movie-set-like rain and wind. Maybe it didn't help that my umbrella is missing a spoke, because as it continued invert itself I wondered if taking the bus was the right choice.
Unfortunately, the 51 was my only choice this morning on my long journey to work.
By 8:40 a.m., the crowd at the bus stop had tripled with everyone awaiting the bus. A girl next to me yelled—"I see it I see it!" and I nodded happily.
But as we stood there in the end-of-the-world rain, we watched the 51 fly past us, full of other bus hoppers.
For a moment I was upset, but realized that this added to the feel of the morning and maybe that bus wasn't the one I really wanted.
Luckily another bus arrived 10 minutes later and I wasn't late to work. There were no real friends to meet on the 51 this early in the morning.
But as I stepped off the bus to my place of work I realized how much I depend on the bus and technology. And even if it is raining cats and dogs and baby shoes, I will go to work.
8:35 a.m. could have been any time of day because of the Hollywood movie-set-like rain and wind. Maybe it didn't help that my umbrella is missing a spoke, because as it continued invert itself I wondered if taking the bus was the right choice.
Unfortunately, the 51 was my only choice this morning on my long journey to work.
By 8:40 a.m., the crowd at the bus stop had tripled with everyone awaiting the bus. A girl next to me yelled—"I see it I see it!" and I nodded happily.
But as we stood there in the end-of-the-world rain, we watched the 51 fly past us, full of other bus hoppers.
For a moment I was upset, but realized that this added to the feel of the morning and maybe that bus wasn't the one I really wanted.
Luckily another bus arrived 10 minutes later and I wasn't late to work. There were no real friends to meet on the 51 this early in the morning.
But as I stepped off the bus to my place of work I realized how much I depend on the bus and technology. And even if it is raining cats and dogs and baby shoes, I will go to work.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Riding the 18 or our pact with the devil
This past Sunday we began the new year with a ride on the 18 to head to the semi-normal North Berkeley. Well...normal in certain ways.
As we made our journey this past rainy Saturday we were immersed in the ever-exciting 18 bus line that runs from Shattuck to Solano Ave. The bus was full of the usual characters, but one in particular caught our attention. Sitting right next to the graffiti-darkened windows sat a man wearing CVS-quality sporty sunglasses and bright red devil horns. As he sat talking to himself we weren't sure what he was saying and it didn't matter.
Like so many times before we blankly stared at the seats in front of us, but this all changed in an instant. My roommate made a mistake and made eye contact with him. It was only for a second but in that moment she had sold her soul to the Shattuck devil man.
Luckily we got off at the stop we needed to without the devil man following behind.
As we made our journey this past rainy Saturday we were immersed in the ever-exciting 18 bus line that runs from Shattuck to Solano Ave. The bus was full of the usual characters, but one in particular caught our attention. Sitting right next to the graffiti-darkened windows sat a man wearing CVS-quality sporty sunglasses and bright red devil horns. As he sat talking to himself we weren't sure what he was saying and it didn't matter.
Like so many times before we blankly stared at the seats in front of us, but this all changed in an instant. My roommate made a mistake and made eye contact with him. It was only for a second but in that moment she had sold her soul to the Shattuck devil man.
Luckily we got off at the stop we needed to without the devil man following behind.
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