Bus Buffet

I ride the bus. I ride the bus even though we have two cars in the driveway. This confuses some people. A neighbor who usually sees me walking to and from the bus stop saw me parking the car one day after running some errands. “You drive?” she asked looking legitimately surprised. “I figured they took your license for drinking or something.”

Driving to work would have kept me from some interesting experiences like contact with those asking for spare change for cups of coffee, or a chilidog. Instead of handing out cash I offer bus tickets or food. I happen to keep quite a selection of food on me at any given time – fruit, cereal, cheese, soup, and egg salad sandwiches.

One winter I had several stolen hams. A friend passed the hams on to us after taking more than his share at work. This was the annual holiday gift from his company and he took the hams in honor of his co-workers who had been laid off that year. I considered lugging the hams on the bus, hoping the next few hungry people are neither Muslim nor Jewish. Or I could set up a temporary carving station on the street corner and really get a good crowd going.

I now consider myself a bit of a celebrity. I have been approached with “you’re the bus lady right? Why don’t you gimmee some of them tickets to ride with? Which bus will take me to Mexican town? How do I get over to Receiving Hospital?” One woman found me and asked specifically for a homemade bran muffin I had given her the week before. “You bake real nice muffins, got any more in that bag?”