November 24, 2006

My Wednesday Adventure

After working late on Tuesday I figured I deserved to leave early on Wednesday and take a trip to the gym. My friend, Daniel planned to meet me in front of the cardio machines at 3:30 and we'd work out until Logic got off work at 5:00. So I left the office at 3:00 and walked down the block to the bus stop.
As I reached the sidewalk I saw a bus approaching and thought to myself, "eh, no need to rush, I have a half hour to get there." I would mosey to the stop and wait another 20 minutes for a bus. When one would finally arrive, half the inhabitants of Seattle would get on with me. And the rest of Seattle would get on at the next stop.
This posed a problem for people at future stops. Our driver would stop long enough to tell people we were full and see if anyone needed to get off. When we finally got near the gym I leaned over and pressed the signal to get off at the next stop. The gentleman next to me noticed I would be trying to get off and awkwardly smiled. I replied with "this should be fun."
My stop came and went. The busdriver drove right past it. Even with the signal on. Now, normally this wouldn't be a big deal but my stop happened to be the last stop in Seattle. I hitched a ride through town on an express bus to Lynnwood so by missing the stop I was left no choice but to take the scenic and holiday-weekend-gridlock-filled trip to a suburb 15 miles north of Seattle.
The man next to me kept me distracted by talking about the downfall of public transit as we slowly lurched to my new and unplanned destination. 40 minutes later we would arrive at the Lynnwood Park and Ride and I would make my way to the driver. After explaining what happened (in a very polite manner, I might add) the asshole managed to direct me to another platform so I could get back to the city without even apologizing or making eye contact! Once off the bus I waited another 10 minutes for my return transit to arrive. By the time I got off the bus in Seattle it was after 5.
Since Logic had been off work for a while (his boss ended up surprising him by letting everyone leave at 3:30), he chose to hang out at a local bar instead of driving home just to drive back into the city and get me. (He actually offered to come get me in Lynnwood, but because of traffic I knew his efforts would be in vain.)
I finally met up with him at our car around 5:30 and drove home. What a weird day.

1 comment:

Middle Girl said...

You are good and polite. No way would any of my fellow riders have allowed the driver to k e e p driving after passing the stop-not one block. Not. One.
Oh, h e double toothpicks, No! Dude would have had a neck full of marble lumps or something.

You are good and polite.