The best and the worst of humanity comes out on the bus
\nA microcosm of camaraderie, solidarity, cultural exchange, ethnic strife
\nWhether the people up front move out of the way and help fasten down an old woman in a wheelchair
\nor everyone yells to the driver if someone is running up about to miss their ride
\nor some tom clancy looking dickbag decides to chime in when a black woman smacks her kid- boy that was a loud one
\nbesides them it was just me and the driver and neither of us were getting involved in that shit
\nBut it’s more good than bad, we’re all locals
\nwe’re all stuck here
\nwe all sort of get along
\nLike when the whole bus was roused in a discordant chorus of ‘that’s what’s up’ when we passed the construction site of a new Popeye’s popping up in town
\nI said nothing but I did nod knowingly
\nPopeyes is the bomb, screw KFC
\nNew warning signs were put up; now in English, Spanish and Hanzi
\nSince the population from mainland China has exploded in recent years
\nthey’re foreign students and they’re locals too
\nit’s almost like we live in a real city
\nan oasis of Tech Money in the middle of Nothing Nowhere USA
\nalmost makes me proud to live in Illinois
\nalmost
\nMy car broke down, it needs a new starter
\nand some medical emergencies prevented me from ponying up the cash
\nso I’ve become one of the bus regulars and I’m starting to blend with the rest of the weirdos
\nI wonder if everyone learns everyone elses’ schedule or it’s just me.
\nA group of guys file on every day, all kind of gimpy and weird looking,
\nI think they all stay together in assisted living, they’re a riot.
\nThe other day they piled on board from the park and they had gas station hot dogs, and they lead a chant, stomping their feet, singing some song that I didn’t understand
\nas badly as I wanted to join in
\n<\/p>\n
Some old man stepped on and said one thing to the driver:
\n“cubs are looking good this year”
\nthe driver replied, “mm hm”
\nI think that exchange sums up the bus. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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