Bus Ride

I ride the bus. (you can already see where this is going). It's frustrating, and annoying and slow (sometimes). But, during those awful moments, every so often something clicks for me. And then it all becomes extremely funny. Just such a moment happened today. The bus was late picking me up. When we got to the transit center, the driver waited for a while until all the people had boarded and then got off the bus to buy a coke. Even though we were late. But, that's chill. By the time she got back though, there was a person in a motorized wheel chair waiting to board the bus. So that took a while. As she was hooking the wheel chair into place, she couldn't find a place to put the second strap, so she said, "Do you have your brake on?" (she had to repeat that a few times until the person comprehended the question) Wheel Chair Person finally said, "Yeah. I have my brake on."
"Well," she said, "I hope that will hold you." (ack! That is Unsafe!) (don't worry, nothing tragic happens to him). By this time there was a pack of people waiting to get on the bus. After the eternity it took for them to load, there was another wheel chair person waiting to get on. The wheel chair person's name is Reuben, I know because his very loud sister was yelling at him to come and get on the bus. My hopes for making it to work on time were shattered, but before I could sink into despair, enter: Singer.
Singer gets on the bus, with a medium length pole under his arm. He keeps turning around in the isle way, the pole clearing a path each time he moves. Finally Reuben says, "Give me that before you poke someone's eye out." Singer looks happy and hands the pole over.
"Hee," he says. Then, in a loud, almost monotone voice he sings, "Reuben, Reuben, Reuben, my brother. I love him! Reuben, Reuben, Reuben my bro-u-u-ther." Moments later, with renewed zeal, "Reuben, Reuben, Reuben, him look so good, him look so goo-o-o-d." The whole time, Reuben is beaming and looking around. Sister, who had gotten on first and is in the back of the bus, yells out to Singer, Hey where are we going!" Reuben says, "Ask the driver where this place is." Singer tries to do it, but the driver tells him to stand behind the white safety line. Singer loudly chants with a sorrowful look, "Yeah because last time I fell over. I fell over. Fe-e-ll O-vvvv-er."
A guy standing by Singer says to Reuben, "That's where you want to go. In that building, so take this next stop." From the back of the bus, Sister, whose seat buddies are telling the same thing, hollers, "This is where we want! What we just passed. Hey, pull the cord!" (directed to Reuben and Singer)" Singer looks at her with an exaggerated seriousness, his face puckered, his finger to his lips and says, "Shhh."
By that time, we had reached my stop, and as I was hustling off the bus, I could hear their shenanigans continuing. The thought of those three kept me smiling all the way to my office. --Lu