The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round Until……

The bus stopped.  I looked up from my reading.  I count on my bus rides to be the uneventful part of my day. 

A line of traffic stretched before us half way down the hill to the ritzy open air shopping mall.  That’s peculiar.  We always zoom down the hill.    As we inch our way down, and I see flashing lights, I think, oh it’s an accident.  Then I notice traffic crawling along the major arterial past the mall.  Is there an incident at the mall?  The bridge up the hill to the University is closed.  Police are cordoning off the area so must be serious stuff.   We break free of the congestion and I decide my cell phone upgrade can wait.   The Verizon store is on that street.  We missed the impromptu water fountain gushing forth near the mall earlier that day, http://www.kirotv.com/videos/news/raw-video-water-main-break-at-university-village/vCFLY5/.

I hopped on the bus, thrilled to catch it earlier than hoped, across the street from my acupuncture appointment.  I’ll arrive home before five pm!  I glanced up from my reading as the bus began inching cautiously forward after a stop a quarter mile down the hill.  The bus almost sat on top of a car parked right up against no park bus zone.   The driver lacked the space to maneuver around the car.  Why not just back up?  This bus is electric, attached to power lines and does not back up.  After getting in and out of the bus twice, surveying the problem, the driver gives up and calls Metro HQ.  He’s stuck.  The driver tells us we can get off or catch the next bus which comes along in about 10 minutes.  Its 8 minutes at least to walk to my transfer stop and I must cross a bridge.  A drawbridge with see through grating and I’m acrophobic.  I can wait or run across the drawbridge while breaking out in a cold sweat.  Okay, I’ll wait and arrive home after five pm without mild PTSD. 

My quota of eventful bus rides is met for this year.  I’m thinking positive.