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Thursday, March 21, 2013

I Rode a Bus

In the effort of good stewardship, I decided I'd take the bus into town to meet up with girlfriends. The ride into town was...adventurous. But I got to Owl & Thistle in barely one piece.  My unfamiliarity with the public transportation system causes me the most anxiety so I was unclear and a little stressed on how I was going to get home.

Tangentially, I also have the knack of meeting people who feel like telling their life story.  This is dangerously amplified when riding in a confined space, even for short distances.  Which is why tonight when I boarded the 16 I was not surprised when an older gentleman started talking to me.  A good 3 seats apart and several people between us, he remarked how lucky I was in catching the bus as it stopped right in front of me. He proceeded to tell me to buy a lottery ticket, blah blah blah. I'm perfectly pleasant to him, and delighted to be so.

When I checked my phone  (just to make sure I was in fact on a bus that would take me in the right general direction) and the gentleman ask if I had Google on my phone and that I should look him up.

"Ed Cain. E-D C-A-I-N" he shouts.  I type in his name and while doing so he proceeds to say, "I worked as a reporter during President Kennedy administration and was the last person to talk to Lee Harvey Oswald." 

Ok "Ed Cain". Of. course. you. are....crazy-man-shouting-across-the-bus-at-me.  My phone wasn't giving me any hits but also wasn't trying really hard. I engaged in chit chat with him mostly just acknowledging that I was hearing what he was saying and assuring him that I would surely be as interested in the topic as he was once I found out more about him.

He disembarked the bus a few stops after I got on and gave a final encouragement to look him up.

So when I got home curiosity motivated me as I looked up this "Ed Cain". Then about fell over. He was in fact telling the truth.  It was at the moment I totally geeked out feeling really cool and was also really grateful that I hadn't completely ignored him like I do most strangers who talk at me. How cool is that?!

But to me, the most shocking part of this whole story is the fragment "I decided I'd take the bus".  That's just cray.



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