On A Cold Day

Is there any group of people easier to hate than the drivers of CTA buses?

They of the, "nothing for 30 minutes", then BAM!,  3 back-to-back-to-back?

This is the 21st Century, can't they get the schedule right?

And don't you just love that, after waiting on that corner with 15 of your neighbors, the bus that stops is the PACKED one, while it's empty counterpart just zips by.

And don't you love that when you get on that packed bus after you have lost two fingers and a toe to frostbite, the bus driver is angry, AT YOU! "Hurry up, I'm running late", they scream at the top of their lungs, though you are just 16 inches from their face. 

And don't you just love how, now that the bus is sardine can tight with people, the driver decides this might be the time to slam on the brakes at every opportunity, sending Starbuck's coffee and untold amounts of flesh towards your person.

And don't you just love how, since the bus is full to the gills, the driver shows no patience for people trying to get off at their stops, driving off just seconds after stopping, leaving passengers to walk the extra distance from the next stop AFTER the one they wanted.

And don't you love how sometimes while you are waiting for your bus for so long, the mere sight of it in the distance is enough to steel your fortitude, making the "warming dance" you have been doing, in front of that really hot neighbor you were going to ask out, dissipate to rocking? Then suddenly as the bus comes closer into view you notice the "Not In Service" sign and you have to break back into your embarrassing dance, I mean rock. No I mean dance. Don't you just love that?

 

And don't you just REALLY love the driver that pulls his bus 3 feet away from you at the beginning of a run, then pulls out their newspaper and starts to read. All the while there are 25 people waiting to get on, in sub-zero weather. No they cannot read while you are on the bus with them in the warmth, you must freeze your tail off while watching their lips move through the fog emerging from sewer covers.

I mean, you just have to really give it up to anyone that has the ability to give warmth and comfort to their fellow citizens by the mere push of a (open) button, but can dig deep and find the resolve to ignore them instead. 

WHERE?

DO?

THEY?

FIND?

THESE?

PEOPLE?

What is it about a really cold day that just gets my blood to boiling about them?

Oh, I know. I must be thinking about THIS!