Sunday, June 07, 2009

In transit.

I'm not a big fan of transit services. I did my time on buses - so if I can drive to where I want to go, I'm going to choose that. I mostly hate waiting for the bus or the train to show up. I often change plans, so I don't want to be stuck trying to figure out how to get out of some place. So, getting on public transportation is an absolute last for me.

Yet when we got into Capitola yesterday - it was pretty clear we wouldn't be able to park any closer than a few miles out of town. So we looped back to find the shuttle stop. The whole thing was pretty uneventful. Until the ride back.

On the way back to the shuttle stop - this woman got onto my radar.



The shuttle stop was right across the street from whatever was happening with her. We figured drunk and disorderly. I thought they were going to arrest her, and actually had stopped paying attention. Nothing really anything interesting about that. However about 10 minutes later I saw her again and remarked to Mr S. "hey- they let her go".

A while later the shuttle came, we got on - and the woman also got on. She sat right at the stairs. Which would have also been a non event. The shuttle took off, and the woman pretty much started acting up. She wanted to be taken to the mall. The driver would tell her "we don't go to the mall anymore, but I'll drop you off anywhere long my track". And he actually meant that.

The woman would become agitated and say "let me out here". The driver would confirm what she wanted and start to pull over, only for her to say "keep going". She did this several times. A few kids in the back yelled "make up your mind". I simply stared wide eyed - because this woman clearly didn't have all her faculties about her.

Yet, beach living is sort of like that. There are a bunch of transients, people living on the edge, campers, and those who are simply living an alternate lifestyle. Which basically means drunk or drug addicted. I'm not sure which one she was, but I have to tell you the shuttle driver was a saint. A few times she would become agitated and tell him to pull over. When he'd say this isn't a safe place she'd say "pull over, pull over, pull over". He'd find a place that was safe, and stop and she'd again tell him to keep going.

After a while, she found a place that was suitable and got off the shuttle. The driver was pretty chill. One of the other passengers was talking to him about the woman, and he remarked that he dealt with people like that all the time.

I of course fantasized about being that calm and went on with my day.



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