At the Bus Stop

At times, The Sack can be a very odd place.

Of course, one does not have to travel too far away from The Sack to find other weird moments.

***

I decide to take the bus to work today. There is still a light drizzle falling in the old town, but it's an enjoyable kind of rain.

A woman is already standing at the bus stop located a few hundred yards away from The Sack. We exchange the usual morning pleasantries and complain politely to each other about the weekend weather. The woman doesn't live in The Sack, but just to prove the New Urbanism Movement wrong, I chat amiably with her while we await the bus.

***

A second woman soon joins us at the bus stop. She is dressed in the uniform of a well-known Canadian coffee shop. I deduce that she works the backshift at this 24 hour-a-day coffee cathedral.

The coffee shop woman is far more awake than either of us. She unloads a steady, pent-up stream of consciousness about her night at the coffee shop. The first woman begins to look anxiously for the bus. I simply nod at the coffee shop woman as if I've understood every word she has said.

***

Suddenly, the coffee shop woman gives me a light tap on the arm and exclaims, "You'll never guess what I heard yesterday!"

I tell her that I haven't the foggiest idea about what she heard yesterday.

"I heard from two old guys sitting outside the drug store that we're gonna get the worst winter storm in over 135 years! It's gonna happen sometime this winter, but I'm not sure when."

***

This is the second year in a row that I've heard this story. Last year, this rumour was floating around the old town so much, The Daily Snooze took it upon itself to soundly debunk the tale.

I consider telling the coffee shop woman this, but it's too early and I'm too disinterested. So I simply tell her I read recently that we're supposed to have a mild winter this year. My first companion at the bus stop pipes up and says she's read the same thing.

Coffee shop woman gives both of us a look of pity. She says, "Well, I heard it from two old people and they have a copy of the Farmers Almanac. So, it's definitely true."

***

Before anyone can say anything else, something very bizarre happens.

A man is riding down the street toward us on a bicycle. We notice him because he's sneezing very loudly as he rides. By the time he passes us, he has sneezed for about the seventh consecutive time.

His hands are on the handlebar and he makes no attempt to cover his nose or mouth. He continues to sneeze well after he passes the bus stop.

If he wasn't pedaling with his feet, I have no doubt the sneezing would have easily propelled him as far as he wished to go.

This was definitely one of the most curious things I've seen for some time.

***

Before any of us can react, the bus pulls into the stop. The bus is crowded and the three of us are easily separated. I am very thankful for this.

It's not even 7:30 in the morning and already I have met a caffeine-addled, backshift-working, coffee shop woman and witnessed a bicycle propelled by sneezes.

For this brief moment, The Sack seems quite a sane place after all.

***