Shouting Match

So, today was nothing short of interesting as I commuted to work. I boarded the 146 southbound at 8:30 am, thinking I had plenty of time for a leisurely ride down Lake Shore and Michigan Ave. Little did I know what I would encounter.

The bus was markedly empty; given the warm weather, I attributed it to the dawn of Summer Fridays in the city. What I didn't notice was a little ball of fire to my right, seated near the window ready to roar.

Just south of Cornelia, only 2 short blocks from my home, the bus took a long time waiting patiently behind a bus that appeared not to be leaving the stop anytime soon. The aforementioned lady passenger (in her 70s if she was a day) began to shout, "GO! GO! Can't you go around this bus!? We've been sitting here a long time!"

The handful of passengers were seemingly unfazed, distracted by their iPods, books and newspapers. I found it hard to focus on my girly novel with such a ruckus.

A few more blocks after we passed the Cornelia stop, picking up passengers at each terminal, we approached the Belmont stop which is known to have the most boarding people, and the longest wait times. Admittedly, we paused through at least 3 cycles of the red light while we boarded Friday morning commuters.

After approximately 4 minutes of this causual, open-door boarding, our lady started to shout again, saying, "Come on! We can't sit here all day! Let's go!"

At this point, the crowd onboard was wearily observing her outrage. A man, also in his 70s I'd guess, concurred with the outspoken granny by shouting, "She's right, Driver, you're terrible!"

It was at this time that the driver (who had been quite thus far) turned around in his seat and shouted back, defending himeself, his abilities, and his driving choices. He blurted, "I waited for you to hobble up to the bus for a good 2 minutes - don't you think I owe it to these passengers to do the same?"

That was just far too rational for her to handle. She growled, grumbled and erupted in a poorly articulated screaming match that consisted of screaming "I don't care! We've missed the green light already 5 or 6 times!"

The poor passengers that were just coming onboard could hardly believe the mess to which they were quickly becoming a part - one woman with a slight limp saying, "I"m sorry - I just had knee surgery and was moving as fast as I could!"

It was just atrocious. I mean, we're all in a hurry, but the morning is not the time to vent your overall frustrations with life. I just wanted to swing my trashy novel at the loud-mouthed granny, asking her what it was that she was so late for. I mean, really. TGIF, lady.