I take the subway & a bus to work on one of the busiest routes in Toronto.
I take if from the station to almost the last stop.
This afternoon as I boarded on my way home, there were
about 10 - 15 people on the bus.
All commuters on their way home after a long day at the salt mines.
It stays relatively quiet until we hit a major intersection.
That's when the high school kids and girls/women with baby carriages board.
By this first major stop today, I was already well into my book, lost in the
characters, completely engaged and almost oblivious to
what is going on around me.
I like it that way.
Sometimes it is more difficult to block out the noise, so on a day
like today, when it feels like I am in a quiet corner and I'm able to
block out the world, I enjoy it.
45 minutes into my 90 minute journey, I was pulled from the page by an
awful stench of 2 middle aged white men with leathery faces that were an
equal combination of sun overexposure and dirt.
Their cologne of choice; stale tobacco and alcohol.
They also had the drunk white guy loud voices.
I put my hand up under my hair and stuck my finger in my right ear.
It took the jarring edge off the volume of their conversation
that comprised of the word fuck, alot.
The atmosphere of the bus was altered by these men.
People unconciously moved away from them.
I felt bags touching my shoulder, hips bumping into me
as people tried to get away.
Sour expressions on faces as a result of the
vocabulary being used.
Judgement.
Alot of judgement.
I tried to refocus but I couldn't.
I don't function well with noise and once my bubble
was burst, there was no going back.
Finally, the 2 fucken dudes got off the bus.
That's when I noticed her.
Standing with her left profile to me
holding onto the bar of the seat in front of me.
She was so beautiful, I caught myself staring.
I think she was Persian.
Maybe 30.
5'7"
150 lbs.
Healthy, curvy, beautiful skin, modestly dressed in a t-shirt, black cardigan
dark navy blue jeans and black sandals.
Her lipstick, fingernails and toenails all matched in a shimmery
shade of raspberry.
Shoulder length dark brown shiny hair and
enough makeup to accentuate her beauty, not cover it or alter it.
She wasn't listening to an ipod or reading a magazine.
She was just standing there, waiting for the bus to get to its destination.
There was a young East Asian girl sitting near me that was obviously taken
with this person as I was. It was odd. It was like we were mesmerized.
In my life, I've seen only a few physically beautiful people.
She was one.
I decided to close my eyes for the last 20 minutes of my journey and just listen.
Cell phone ring tones; Cricketts & Dont Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin.
Languages: English, Chinese, Polish, Tagalog and a few others I couldn't discern.
Laughter, gossip and some snoring.
We pulled into the station and it was busier than normal.
I arrived 30 minutes later than usual due to the rain.
Going down the elevator to the subway level, it looked like an ant farm.
Hundreds of people who looked like dots going in every which direction.
All with a purpose, all with a destination.
I got home and realized today that as much as I hate,
and I do HATE that my commute is so long, I do
have alot of adventures on public transit
that I would otherwise not have.
I'll take the good with the bad.
Now, if I win the Loto Max this weekend, I will gladly pass up those
adventures and I'd be like the 2 drunks on the bus.......
I'd say "fuck all y'all" and I'd go off and have
different kinds of adventures!
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