Strangers

Everyday as I crawl down Foothill Dr. in a sea of fellow commuters, I pass bus stops.  Bus stops full of strangers.  Strangers who are probably laughing at all of us that make up this massive river of metal and exhaust, just trickling down the street.  Maybe these strangers want to do their part to save the environment.  Perhaps they want to save a little cash.  Or could it be that they just like other people driving them around?  Who knows.  One thing I do know is that while they're laughing at me, I'm laughing right back.

See, in case you don't know, bus stops are marked by these metal posts with signs on the top letting everyone know where the bus will stop.  Sometimes the bus pulls up a little past the sign, while other times it comes up a little short.  Now when I take public transportation I usually stand, you know, by the sign indicating where the bus will stop.  And if someone is already standing there, I join them.  You know, create a little line if you want to be polite or start a little cluster that others would join. We become a group of people all tied together by a common goal with the sign as the center, a beacon if you will, calling the bus to us.

Not these strangers.

These strangers seem to be afraid of each other.  Or maybe they all smell funny.  Or maybe each person is afraid THEY smell so they're trying to do everyone else a favor.  Whatever the case may be, these people stand as FAR                          AWAYfrom each other as possible.  So far away it just looks ridiculous.  Awkward.  Silly.  Superfluous.  (not really that last one, I just like that word).  Seriously, there are about 6 people waiting for the bus and they are spread out in a line that covers the whole block.

I wonder what the bus driver thinks when he pulls up. 
Because I think y'all look a little foolish.

Maybe the driver opens the door and coasts by and all the strangers jump on when he passes them.  I mean, he can't wait all day for them to finish walking the rest of the way to the bus just because all these strangers are afraid of each other.  And it's not just these strangers who do it.  Oh no.  Everyone up and down the street is doing the same thing.  I think they're all lucky the bus even stops.  No one is even standing by the sign.  If I were the driver, I'd probably just pass right on by (guess you're lucky I'm not a bus driver).

I know we all like our personal space.  But come one people!  When did personal space become a 15 foot bubble?  Get a little closer.

Unless you want me to keep laughing at you.