I never thought I'd end up being the girl who is so frugal that she'll park a mile away just to get free parking and then take the bus to where she's going. But that's exactly what I did on Saturday. Granted, I parked next to the gym knowing I'd eventually end up back there, but still.
I needed to pick up a prescription and then got side tracked at J. Crew before going to my favorite yoga class. A pretty good day, if you ask me. But something happened while I was waiting for the bus that I can't get out of my head.
As I walked down the hill I saw a man waiting at the bus stop I would soon be at. He was a big guy who showed signs of street life and was wearing multiple layers of clothes in what I assume was his attempt to stay warm. He was standing behind a partition to block the wind.
I chose to feel the breeze on my face so I walked past him and stood next to the bus stop.
We waited for ten minutes before the bus to downtown pulled up. Between walking down the hill and getting on the bus there were 2 other buses that teased us by turning into the far right lane and driving right past us. In both of those situations, the man walked from behind the covering toward the actual stop and then after realizing the bus wasn't going to stop, would walk back to the protected benches.
The second time that happened he stopped next to me and proceeded to blow his nose into a new tissue. And then it happened... he threw the Kleenex into a puddle on the side of the road.
I stood there in disbelief for a minute. How could a man who sleeps on these same streets disrespect them like that? Dirtying his own space AND the space of everyone who uses that street.
Had he not been extremely intimidating, I'm not sure what I would have done. But I just kept my mouth shut. How would you have handled that?
2 comments:
I was just saying the other day how it boggles my mind that people choose to toss trash on the ground when a receptacle is mere steps away.
Same way--you never know what can set a person off. I'm sure Justin was happy you remained silent!
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