Riding the Milwaukee County Transit System is quite the experience. Most of us hate to do it. We run all the way to the stop just to see the bus fly right by us. Maybe some of us have never rode it, but the fact being that as students we all get a free pass to ride, it’s probably a usual thing for us to do.
I know it is for me, living near Brady St., there’s no way I can walk the two miles to campus in the snow or decide to pay $8.00 a day in parking because my job is also in the same place and most of my day is spent there. As much as I feel the bus is a hassle, when the schedule is never correct or I get squeezed in like a sardine when the students get on at the Kenilworth stop, I also think the experience is quite entertaining. I’ve been offered drugs on the bus, had to pee so bad I thought I might have pissed myself on the bus, have been drunk and rowdy on the bus, but most of all have observed other people doing ridiculous things in my everyday travels on the bus. I've talked to a one armed man with a flashlight, I've seen a couple practically having sex, an old man carrying a food bowl who told my friend she's "really beautiful" and another old man who wanted to party with my friends at Riversplash.
So, as you guessed it, and as the trend has been, has anyone had any other good bus experiences? My goal one day is to write a play or a book on all the crazy experiences occurring on the bus.
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I have had so many crazy experiences on the bus! I used to ride the bus from campus to Pick N' Save in Shorewood, where I work. It is not that far of a ride, but plenty of time for crazy things to happen. Once I got interviewed for Channel 18 news on my way to work about whether or not I felt safe riding the bus. I think it was after one of the shootings on a bus a couple years ago. Once I saw a guy fall off his seat because he was sleeping. But it was not obvious that he was sleeping and everyone was freaking out because he wouldn't wake up. Thank God, though, he was just a heavy sleeper. One thing that always creeped me out though was when people recognized me FROM riding the bus. People would come up to me at work and tell me they saw me on the bus and I swear I had never seen the people before and I am very good at remembering faces! While I do have some good stories to tell, I am thankful that I am no longer a busrider...
I haven't had too many crazy experiences on the bus. I would have to say the thing that I hate the most is small talk on the bus. I don't ride the bus to make friends and I usually am not in the mood to talk to strangers. Yet someone always finds me and tries to proposition me for converstaion. I have also met quite a few weirdos. One time I was riding the bus with my best friend Tiffany to the South side. All of sudden this guy looks back at us and starts staring straight into her eyes. He then mumbles..you have pretty eyes. She was like um Thank-you and then awkward silence followed as this man got off the bus at the same time that we did.
My bus experience is limited to getting on at Webster/Maryland and getting off at Kenwood/Maryland. This comprises about 3-4 minutes out of my daily routine. However, whenever school first starts and students are determined not to skip any classes, the bus sometimes hits capacity and as I stand in the freezing cold waiting my turn, on several occasions I have watched the bus pass me by without remorse. Jammed with students without the ability to fit one more, I have been late to many a-class already this semester do to such instances. So even though my 3-4 minute bus ride may not have a very large impact, when I miss that ride, the impact of running to class, being late and having missed part of lecture does have a very significant impact indeed.
Amy---
I live on Belleview and Maryland...so the days that YOU make it on and I DON'T...or we both don't...I feel your pain. But I have sucessfully lost my bus pass, so now I walk to class everyday and I'm never late. I've also found it's much warmer to walk in the cold than stand and wait for the bus for 15 minutes when it only takes that long to walk to campus anyway. Give it a try!
I only ride the bus from North Ave. to campus so I don't think I've had any truly crazy experiences on the bus lately, but I always hear people talking about theirs. I suppose the funniest experience I had lately was when this older woman was trying to get off the bus somewhere near campus and the bus was really packed and she got mad and just started stepping on people's feet and swearing to herself. I guess there's just something funny about old people swearing...
One of the creziest expiriences that I can remember took place 2 summers ago. I had a large balacony over looking locust street, and it was a blazing hot day. It was smack dab in the middle of Summer Fest week (or the 2 weeks). We were all hanging out on my balcony and having those fun summer cocktails for a good couple of hours enjoying the beautiful weather, and we decided to go down to Summerfest for the rest of the day, and for the OAR concert. For some reason, we walked all the way up to the bus stop on Maryland and Kenwood, and the stop was packed. It seemed that by 3 pm that day, everyone was wasted, and waiting for a bus to go down to summerfest. Everyone we talked to that night was going to OAR, so it was going to be a good night. Somehow, we managed to squeeze onto the bus, which was wayyyy over maximum capacity, and so everyone was all up your stuff. The whole way down, a large group of guys made cheers up and started yelling random things. I dont remember much, but I rememeber them always chanting, "U-S-A, U-S-A!!!!", and then the would switch to "U-W-M, U-W-M", and other random 3 letter words. I know it sounds stupid, but the whole bus would chant whatever they would start up. And on top of that, the driver was getting a little crazy, and we were all a little tipsy as well, so no one could stay in one spot while the bus was in motion, and everyone kept falling all over.
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