Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Absolutely

As I exit my bus to transfer to my next one, I see a large, upper-middle age woman struggle to lift a heavy suitcase off my same bus, but by the front door instead of the back, where I exited.

She finally manages to wiggle it down. It's a bright, bold blue, and is half her height. She's got thick, grey hair and is dressed in a plus-sized black pantsuit.

Tipping the suitcase onto its wheels, she pulls it into the bus shelter and, exhausted, plops herself down on the two person bench inside, leaving the case in front of the empty seat.

Still breathing heavily, the pulls out her cell phone and makes a call. "Hey, it's me. I guess you're out, but I'm home now. Well, not home, but I'm at the bus stop and should be there soon. I'm really tired, so I'm probably going to go right to bed when I get home. See you later." She ends the call and nearly drops the phone, but manages to prevent it from hitting the ground by jamming her arms and legs up against the suitcase.

Another woman enters the bus shelter. Awkwardly, the first woman wobbles the suitcase out of the way of the empty seat, but the newcomer doesn't sit. After a moment, she asks, "Mind if I sit down?"

"Absolutely," says the first, nudging the suitcase further out of the way.

"Thanks." With some relief, she takes the seat. "Long day!"

"Absolutely," comes the knowing reply, this time pronounced slower, and more emphatically.

There's my bus.

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