Nothing had prepared
me for this weird and unusual bus ride! NOTHING,
I say!
No question, at times, riding
the city bus is like watching the introduction to a cast of characters from a T.V.
comedy sitcom.
Many times with each
stop, the doors open and someone will enter with a peculiar demeanor, a catchy outfit
or an offbeat personality.
This was my mode of
transportation for a few years when I first moved from my smaller hometown to
the big city back in my younger days.
The need for a car
wasn't necessary; I usually bummed rides from roommates and for reasons of cost
and convenience I'd take the bus into work. Bus transportation to
work was usually made up of the same professional business people commuting to
their 9 to 5 jobs. Passengers, maybe, would give a quick nod and smile as they boarded, but generally would keep to themselves during the daily commute.
Besides my daily jaunt to work, I'd occasionally, on a Saturday afternoon take the bus into the city from my suburban apartment to do a little shopping. On this day, the passengers boarded and exited in the usual fashion. It was a typical Saturday with only a half dozen on the bus at one time. Until.....
Besides my daily jaunt to work, I'd occasionally, on a Saturday afternoon take the bus into the city from my suburban apartment to do a little shopping. On this day, the passengers boarded and exited in the usual fashion. It was a typical Saturday with only a half dozen on the bus at one time. Until.....
One ordinary man, middle aged perhaps, boarded and sat serenely alone in his seat just across from me. I only noticed that he was staring out the window and never turning his head to look elsewhere. His gaze seemed to have him fixated in a different world. In a trance you might say.
It wasn't until he
started to make movement with his arm that I became interested in what he was
doing.
Each time I looked
over his way the swinging motion of his arm seemed to become more
aggressive.
Still not
understanding and even more curious to what was happening, I could only imagine
that he was having some kind of seizure. I thought his continuous gaze out the
window was quite strange.
One side of his jacket was being held by his other hand, to create sort of a shield or
curtain from the action that was happening on the other side.
Eureka! This is when
the light bulb came on and it dawned on me this guy wasn't having a seizure! He
was practicing the "Master Of His
Domain!"
This term, of course,
was first made famous by a Seinfeld episode called “The Contest.”
Any Seinfeld fan will remember the episode
where George had been caught at his mother’s house pleasuring himself. Soon after, he’d confess the embarrassing
situation to Jerry, Elaine and Kramer. Once the teasing and ridicule ended,
they took bets on how long one could go without being the “Master Of Their Domain” or the “Queen
Of Their Castle.” Hence, "The
Contest" was created.
It was a hilarious
episode that brought a sensitive and private issue to the forefront by way of a
popular television sitcom.
However, my bus
episode happened far before Seinfeld
had made this situation laughable.
Being young and dumb,
I was horrified that this was actually being performed on a public bus in broad
daylight on a Saturday afternoon!
Geez, to think my only
agenda that day was to go shopping and decide what toppings to put on my frozen
yogurt.
If this man had laid
bets down to enter "The
Contest" he clearly had lost the bet!
For cripes sake he
barely had deposited his bus fare into the coin drop before making a personal
deposit on the bus wall. NOT kidding!
Just after a few shakes,
he tugged
the bus bell to get off at the next corner (all puns intended) and proceeded to
exit where he never looked back.
In the meantime, I was
left sitting on the tainted bus where my eyes were still burning with
disbelief.
My innocent Saturday
bus ride will certainly make for a good tale around the water cooler on Monday,
but it may have ended any future frozen yogurt outings.
Ultimately, this
unforeseen event made me think to myself...."Dorothy,
you're not in Kansas anymore!" Frankly...it just may have catapulted
me into buying a car.
I could see where this
may not have been the story climax you had expected. Believe me, this was not
the bus ride I had expected.
So, you might be
wondering why I would share this unusual story.
Maybe for the same
reason Larry David wrote it into a Seinfeld
episode; because there's no telling what will inspire a writer to tell a
story.
Sometimes, you just
have to go with it and put it out there to create a stir, give something to
talk about around the water cooler or simply just to generate some laughter.
If you recall from that Seinfeld
episode, once everyone was out of the contest they'd all sleep like babies. Not surprisingly, Kramer would be the happiest "Master" of them all!
Join in on the humor
of life and refresh your memory with some clips from the episode called "The Contest."
OH MY! Yep, unforgettable!
ReplyDeleteIt's just one of those unforgettable moments that had to be told! Thanks for reading and finding the humor in it. :)
DeleteThis brought back memories of when I used to ride the bus at the age of 18. I had just moved from my family's home in Isanti to Brooklyn Center and took the bus every day to work in downtown Mpls. You're right it was mostly business people. I did not experience anything like this, how awful for you! But there was a tornado once (a few miles away which we could see from the bus!) and the bus driver was radioed by dispatch to go back to the terminal. Since I was the only passenger who had a stop nearby he let me out and I ran my ass off for 6 blocks to my home where my sisters were already hiding from the storm in a downstairs bathroom.
ReplyDeleteWow, Anna, that must have been a hellish 6 block run! Getting caught in Mother Nature's wrath is an experience I could do without! My bus story may have had a twist to it, but at least it didn't involve the whirling wind of a twister. I guess, anything can happen on the city bus! Thanks for sharing :)
DeleteThis took me back to my days of riding the bus to get back and forth to work in Duluth. I could just picture myself sitting in those seats again. Thankfully I never experienced what you did. But I think it contributed to my joy of people watching to this day. Thanks for the memory.
ReplyDeleteYes, people watching can be very interesting when riding the city bus and my memories, for the most part, were good ones. Thankfully, your memories were good ones too and Duluth what a great city for riding the bus...winter time and trekking those snowy hills must have been adventurous. Thank you for commenting, Mary :)
DeleteOh good lord! I am a public train rider most work days, and while there have been some 'interesting' incidents, I am happy to report that the Metro riders I have come in contact with thus far have been able to 'keep it in their pants'.
ReplyDeleteLol Laura! For your sake, I hope that trend continues. Never say never...there's always tomorrow. Public transportation can reveal many oddities on any given day. Hoping you have happy incident free riding! :)
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