Fun with public transportation

Yesterday, the whole fam went downtown intending to go to the Pecan Street Festival. But, it was a complete madhouse when we got there and we couldn’t find parking even remotely close. So we went to the Children’s Museum instead. After about an hour, Eleanor was ready for a nap, but Henry was still having a good time. So, Diane and E headed home and Henry and I planned on just catching the bus a little later. Thanks to Uncle Karl hooking me up with a smart phone recently, the bus schedule was just a few clicks away. Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying attention during those few clicks to the part where it told me our bus stop was under construction and we would need to go to another stop on a different street, so after walking about eight blocks with Henry on my back, we sat at the wrong stop for a little while. For whatever reason, this particular stop (Brazos & 6th, for those following at home) is always occupied by the most vagrant of vagrants. Yesterday was no exception. Henry has been in a really friendly mood lately, talking to any and every passerby that he sees…so I was really hoping he wouldn’t take this opportunity to network, which thankfully he did not. But, after waiting a few minutes, I checked the schedule again and this time noticed the warning. So, we moved on to our new stop right in time to watch one extremely drunken fellow picking a fight with another less drunk but still completely wasted gentleman. Lots of loud, drunken swearing and fist waving ensued and I did my best, “Hey, look over there at that thing that isn’t two bums fighting” routine before deciding we just needed to probably find a different stop. As we were walking away, Henry said, “That guy in the black shirt was MAD.” That much was certain.

When we got on the bus, I started to relax a little and was relieved to be through the bum gauntlet that downtown can often be….but that lasted all of about 30 seconds before some woman behind us started screaming at another passenger. Swears ensued and it started getting pretty hostile (I never looked back to see what was going on, hoping my disinterest would rub off on Henry, so I have no idea what it was about). The agitator got off the bus a few blocks away, but made sure to swear at and flip off (with both hands waving wildly) the other passenger a few more times after getting off the bus (which fortunately took place directly outside our window).

A few stops later, a woman in a wheelchair got on, so we had to move from the front of the bus to the very back….where the only open seats were next to a young guy in his 20s with his face pressed against the window completely unconscious. This was not the, “I sure am tired…think I’ll catch a little nap” sort of sleep, but the “I’ve consumed waaaaaaay too much of whatever it was I was enjoying and suddenly everything turned dark” variety. I quickly whipped out my phone and Henry and I started playing as many games as I could download quickly for the rest of the trip home. As we were walking home, he said, “That man who was asleep was funny.” Yes, that whole experience was funny, Henry….and even funnier the closer we got to home.