Greenmount and North

I saw this article about a stabbing on North Avenue in the Sun last week and posted it on Facebook with the comment, "Nice. My bus stops there." My friend Andrée responded with, "At least you don't get off the bus there...."

Well, not on purpose I don't, but once, I had no choice.

The rain was torrential; it was one of those mornings when I looked around the bus and realized I don't want to spend the next 40 days and nights with any of the other 65 or so passengers taking up every available inch of floor and seat space. As the bus approached the intersection of Greenmount and North avenues, I could barely make out the sound of the driver's voice above the din of chatter, announcing that we would all have to deboard and wait for the next bus. Meanwhile, the gutters had become rivers and sadistic motorists were driving as close to the curb as possible in order to send flumes of filthy water onto people on the sidewalk.

We stood at the bus stop, as far from the curb as possible without climbing the fence into the vacant lot behind us. The young woman next to me didn't even have a hat for protection, and her elaborate bi-colored weave was getting soaked. I shared my umbrella with her, and she seemed grateful. I can't understand how a person can leave the house in the morning without rain gear when it's been raining for hours already and the forecast does not suggest an end to the precipitation anytime in the near future. Perhaps she had been too busy texting her friends to notice. :::shrug:::

Our bus, apparently disabled in some way, crossed North Avenue and parked on the far side, flashers on. I felt angry, as I was not only going to be late for work, but also wet and dirty. I was thankful that it was summer, and I was wearing my favorite machine-washable Keen Balis, so at least my shoes weren't being ruined along with my mood.

Posted by theminx on MTA Diaries.