LIKE, HOW ANNOYING!

I was driving the 6 route heading from downtown into uptown. There was this young couple that I thought was going to drive me into peer counseling by the time I made it to uptown! They seemed to enjoy talking with each other and seemed to have a lot in common...including repeatedly saying "like". Every sentence had at least one "like" in it. Like really. Like, I'm not kidding. It was, like, really annoying!

To keep my sanity for as long as possible. I decided to distract myself by making a game out of it. I decided to count how many times they said "like". You aren't going to believe this...between the two of them, they said "like" 23 times in 2 blocks! In fairness to them, I caught about half of a red light. Still, TWENTY THREE times!

God loves me. He proved it by having them get off at uptown. WOO HOO! I had to drive all the way to Southdale in Edina. I couldn't have taken it. It was especially funny after they got off and a couple other people commented on the "like" couple. I couldn't help myself. I told one guy about my twenty three count and he cracked up. He said he knew it was bad but hadn't realized it was THAT bad!

People are fun.

FUNNY TRUCK

I saw this truck the other day while driving the bus in south Minneapolis. I was sitting at a red light and there was this SUV in front of me. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then I noticed the sign on it. Where there would normally be the wording on the truck telling the model, this one said "FAKELADE". Get it? Instead of Escalade! That was too funny!

Of course, my mind works in mysterious ways and I had a thought that I just couldn't shake. Where the heck did they get that sign made? It looked like it actually came with the truck, which it obviously didn't. Where did they get that sign? It's still bugging me.

HIGHLY EDUMACATED

I had this teenage boy get on my bus the other day. He was trying so hard to do the right thing. He had his books. He had his pants pulled up. He was dressed kind of nerdy, yet looked handsome and well groomed. Then he made the mistake of opening his mouth to ask me a question.

I was blinded my the gaudy gold he had covering all his front teeth. He sounded like he had a mouth full of peanut butter as he asked me slowly...probably the speed his brain was in.. "Does this bus go to the Lyeberry?" I was tempted to be sarcastic and tell him "No, but I do pass the Library." I thought better of that idea and just told him "yes".

I got the feeling he used to be gangsta and found out the decent girls prefer a guy with an education and fashion sense. He was making the switch but got caught somewhere in the middle. The weed had slowed his speech and he couldn't quite bring himself to part with the fake gold teeth.

Well, at least he is trying.

DRUNK PCA

To help people with disabilities, the bus gives free rides to their Personal Care Attendants (PCA's). This is another loophole in which the scammers delight. Most people who use this seem to be legitimate, but every now and then you get one that you know is just not right.

I had two very drunk/high guys get on in downtown Minneapolis one evening. They staggered across the street and I wasn't quick enough to get away. The first guy fell up the steps. He then turned around and yelled to his friend to hurry and get on the bus. The second guy weaves his way across the street as I sat there dreading his arrival. The first one starts to show me the yellow paper that you get when you are waiting for your ID to come from the state. He had no picture ID to back it up or anything. I wasn't feeling like touching anything he had pulled out of his filthy, urine-stained pocket so I told him it was fine, he could pay the mobility fare and have a seat. Then he tells me his drunk buddy is his PCA! I told him a PCA is a Personal Care Attendant...not someone who is drunk. He insisted that his friend didn't have to pay because other drivers told him he didn't. I didn't feel like trying to argue with a guy that was obviously very drunk and whose eyes were bulging out of his head...I think from some type of drugs so I let them sit down.

I called the Control Center and told them about the two guys and told them I had a long layover in a place I didn't feel comfortable and didn't want these two on my bus alone with me. They didn't seem to know where they were going or even where they were. I looked in the mirror and one of them was inhaling something off a piece of plastic. I told Control that if they didn't get off by Uptown Station, I'd be calling back for a squad to meet me at the end of the line. They agreed that it would be safest to do so. Lucky for me, they recognized the station when we arrived uptown and decided to get on a 17 and go to Hopkins or somewhere.

I'm thinkin' if someone wants to scam the system and get a free ride for their friend, they should at least TRY and act sober!

SPAM COMMENTS

Thanks to my wonderful brother, I think the comment section should be fixed. Sorry to those of you that want to leave a comment, but he put the little anti-spam deal on there so you'll have to type in an extra word. A small price to avoid all the junk that had been showing up there lately. Guess I was lucky not to have that problem for the first three and a half years of having this blog. Hopefully, the problem is solved.

Thank you all for your patience..and your comments!