A KID I WON'T SOON FORGET
I was driving the 21 recently. Had a real fun group as I was heading into downtown St. Paul. One little boy about 7-8 years old was just a ball of energy. I enjoyed listening to him telling jokes and messing with anyone in the area. I laughed to myself as he went from one person to the next saying "say I and spell cup". He laughed each time the good sports pretended not to know what they were doing when they said " I c-u-p". ( For those of you that may be a little slow..they were saying "I see you pee.")
Finally, he made his way to the drivers seat. I pretended I had been deaf all this time when he asked me to say I and spell cup. I paused a minute for the effect and said "OH No, You aren't going to get ME!" He laughed and then came up with something else for me. He asked me to say I and spell cup backwards. I thought about it for a second. Didn't get it. I didn't want to fall into a trap so I told him again he wasn't going to get me. He looked at me like "duh" and said "What? I p-u-c. It doesn't MEAN anything!" To me, it meant I pee,you see...but I'm not arguing with a kid. You can't win those.
I noticed it had gotten pretty quiet as we pulled into downtown. I listened again and found out the kid was being bribed by his grandma with $2 if he could get all the way home without saying anything. I called him over at a stoplight and told him I heard he was winning a bet and told him I could teach him to talk without saying anything. He seemed totally confused. I showed him how to spell "hi" in sign language. He was a quick learner. He went straight to his grandma and signed "hi" over and over again. She was more confused than he had been. I told her he was saying "hi" to her in sign language. She seemed happily impressed.
Just then, someone the kid had "gotten" with his I cup joke commented to his grandma what a fun kid her "son" was. That's when the mood dampened for a minute. She said his mother had been killed and she was taking care of him. He was her grandson. "It's just him and me." My heart just sank.
I must give credit to the grandma, though. The kid was very bright and positive and fun to be around. Not a lot of kids that adults can say that about...especially on the bus!
Finally, he made his way to the drivers seat. I pretended I had been deaf all this time when he asked me to say I and spell cup. I paused a minute for the effect and said "OH No, You aren't going to get ME!" He laughed and then came up with something else for me. He asked me to say I and spell cup backwards. I thought about it for a second. Didn't get it. I didn't want to fall into a trap so I told him again he wasn't going to get me. He looked at me like "duh" and said "What? I p-u-c. It doesn't MEAN anything!" To me, it meant I pee,you see...but I'm not arguing with a kid. You can't win those.
I noticed it had gotten pretty quiet as we pulled into downtown. I listened again and found out the kid was being bribed by his grandma with $2 if he could get all the way home without saying anything. I called him over at a stoplight and told him I heard he was winning a bet and told him I could teach him to talk without saying anything. He seemed totally confused. I showed him how to spell "hi" in sign language. He was a quick learner. He went straight to his grandma and signed "hi" over and over again. She was more confused than he had been. I told her he was saying "hi" to her in sign language. She seemed happily impressed.
Just then, someone the kid had "gotten" with his I cup joke commented to his grandma what a fun kid her "son" was. That's when the mood dampened for a minute. She said his mother had been killed and she was taking care of him. He was her grandson. "It's just him and me." My heart just sank.
I must give credit to the grandma, though. The kid was very bright and positive and fun to be around. Not a lot of kids that adults can say that about...especially on the bus!
posted by Jeanne Ree at 12:02 AM
2 Comments:
What a touching story Jeanne Ree...you my dear, are an excellent writer....wish I could portray my stories as well as you do.....in the mean time though...to anyone who cares...check out this website, http://www.southwesttransitway.org./and "click on" the box that mentions viewing the 3 possible routes for the southwest corridor for light rail. "1A" "3A" or "3C".
I'm curious to know your opinion and anyone else's for that matter.
Use the "zoom" tool to be able to see closer the areas it impacts.
Personally I just can't see running the light rail down the Nicollet Mall, that would be a disaster just waiting to happen.
What do you think?
Martini - Thanks. Yep, you're right. No train on the mall. That would just ruin the mall. Not to mention, screw up a lot of buses!! We missed you this past weekend!
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