TROUBLE ON THE 24 ?????
Usually, the 24 is a nice quiet route. There's not usually any trouble. Not usually.
I was doing the 24 the other day and knew I was going to have a problem. I saw it coming. I just didn't know exactly what the problem was going to be until it happened.
My first clue came as I was driving down Franklin Avenue pulling up to the Chicago Avenue bus stop. As I crossed the intersection, I saw this guy across the street from the bus stop I was about to enter. He looked like he was thinking out loud, pointing in different directions and looking confused. Finally, he came running for my bus. Lucky me.
I noticed him standing to the side of the front door as people got off. He asked each one for a transfer. That didn't work. He got on and, much to my surprise, he put in the entire $2 rush hour fare. He was overly polite to me as he spoke in his very exaggerated manner. He then went and sat in the back of the bus...clue number two.
After we went a couple blocks, I heard clue number three...the unmistakable sound of a can being opened. It SOUNDED like beer. Then I saw him wiping off what had splattered on him. A block or so later, I smelled the faintest whiff of beer. I had to make a bus stop so as I did, I made an announcement over the speaker. "Open alcoholic beverages are not allowed on the bus." As expected, the guilty party instantly spoke up. "Oh, I'm sorry." I told him he'd have to get off the bus with his beer. As he wrestled the can of beer back into the see-through plastic bag he said "I'm not drinking any beer." To the shock of all the passengers, I said "I can SMELL it. You need to get off the bus." He began to try and tell my where he needed to go and I told him this was as far as he was going with an open beer. He again told me where he was trying to go. I told him if he'd have left his beer unopened, I could have gotten him there. Since he decided to open the beer, he was on his own.
Surprisingly, he got off the bus with no further argument. As people got off at their stops, a few asked me if I could REALLY smell the beer all the way up front. I told them I had a great smeller. They thought that was pretty funny.
I amaze myself sometimes!
I was doing the 24 the other day and knew I was going to have a problem. I saw it coming. I just didn't know exactly what the problem was going to be until it happened.
My first clue came as I was driving down Franklin Avenue pulling up to the Chicago Avenue bus stop. As I crossed the intersection, I saw this guy across the street from the bus stop I was about to enter. He looked like he was thinking out loud, pointing in different directions and looking confused. Finally, he came running for my bus. Lucky me.
I noticed him standing to the side of the front door as people got off. He asked each one for a transfer. That didn't work. He got on and, much to my surprise, he put in the entire $2 rush hour fare. He was overly polite to me as he spoke in his very exaggerated manner. He then went and sat in the back of the bus...clue number two.
After we went a couple blocks, I heard clue number three...the unmistakable sound of a can being opened. It SOUNDED like beer. Then I saw him wiping off what had splattered on him. A block or so later, I smelled the faintest whiff of beer. I had to make a bus stop so as I did, I made an announcement over the speaker. "Open alcoholic beverages are not allowed on the bus." As expected, the guilty party instantly spoke up. "Oh, I'm sorry." I told him he'd have to get off the bus with his beer. As he wrestled the can of beer back into the see-through plastic bag he said "I'm not drinking any beer." To the shock of all the passengers, I said "I can SMELL it. You need to get off the bus." He began to try and tell my where he needed to go and I told him this was as far as he was going with an open beer. He again told me where he was trying to go. I told him if he'd have left his beer unopened, I could have gotten him there. Since he decided to open the beer, he was on his own.
Surprisingly, he got off the bus with no further argument. As people got off at their stops, a few asked me if I could REALLY smell the beer all the way up front. I told them I had a great smeller. They thought that was pretty funny.
I amaze myself sometimes!
posted by Jeanne Ree at 8:13 PM
5 Comments:
Jeanne, that's so funny....and so TRUE. Folks just don't realize....maybe it's the driver's enclosure concentrating the smell...maybe the air circulation system delivering it to that enclosure....but the fact is, folks, she is 100% correct. Open a beer, wear a lot of cologne, fail to properly bathe, and the bus driver is forced to share the fragrance, no matter where you sit. Of course, I'm sure you DO have a fabulous "smeller" too, doll. :-)
"Ralph down South"
I've got a nose that could rival yours, Jeanne. A touch of alcoholic beverage on someone, and I can smell it from 50 feet as easily as I can from 5.
Ralph & Mad - I think my smeller works about like the average persons. Just sux that all the stinky people like to sit in the peanut seat!!
Haha, could it be because you're Irish?
arcanica - hmmmmm...lemme think about that.
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