Running to Catch the Bus

There have been many times we have been literally running to catch a bus, or running after it. We try to make sure we are at the stop in time, but sometimes we don't quite make it, or the bus is running early (for a change). Most often when we are running to catch a bus it's because the previous bus we were on to transfer to another bus was running behind schedule.

This was the case last week when the bus we take from work and school was running quite a bit behind. Most drivers are conscious of the fact that riders going back to the depot are transferring to another bus to reach their final destination. Those drivers make every effort to get passengers to the depot ahead of time or at least on time. If the driver finds that he/she will be late, they will usually call dispatch to alert them that passengers are on the way.

Not the case with the late driver last week! Not only did he not make any visible effort to arrive at the depot on time, but he didn't call ahead to alert them of our delayed arrival! Everyone on the bus that had another bus to catch started getting anxious about their connection. It was later in the evening when the buses only run on the hour, so if we missed our connection it would have been at least that long before we were able to catch it again.

The funny part was when we got close enough to the depot, several passengers asked to be let off the bus so they could try to run and catch their connection as the buses were leaving the depot. A couple of ladies that ride our bus going home jumped off the bus, so my son and I decided we had better follow suit. Mind you, these ladies are not young, one of them is a mother of an adult son and she works six days a week, ten hour plus days. She jumped off that bus and bolted down the street as if her life depended on it! My eleven year old son couldn't even catch up with her, and I was so busy laughing in amazement at how fast she was going, I couldn't catch up either! When we finally got to the bus (of course, she got there first!) we called her 'Flo Jo' after the Olympic track star and she replied, 'I held the bus for you though, didn't I?' for which we were grateful.

Well, I teased my son for the next week that he let a woman older than his mother beat him to the bus. He was having none of that, so yesterday when the same lackadaisical driver got us back to the depot with 2 minutes to spare, we again jumped off close enough to bolt to the next bus. But this time, my son looked at 'Flo Jo' and took off running! He said, 'She's not gonna beat me today!' Again, I was laughing so hard at the two of them racing to the bus, I almost didn't make it myself! Well, true to his word, he beat her, but by the time we all made it on the bus and caught our breath, she said, 'You better wear your tennis shoes and eat your Wheaties, cause you're not gonna beat me tomorrow!' We roared with laughter at the anticipation of another 'run for the bus'.