Thursday, November 4, 2010

Sassy on the SEPTA and in the Street

And now another episode of Sassy on the SEPTA brought to you by crazy white lady in her brand new Honda on the street.
I've been trying to take the bus to work in an effort to be "green"...but on Friday I took the bus because I was getting picked up from work at noon by boyfriend Josh and friend Sam. I was kinda grumpy about it, especially when I had to stand in the aisle, but more so when this happened:
We were making one of those difficult turns down a narrow street where the white line that indicates where oncoming cars should stop at the light is purposefully far back because of the trolley's turn radius. Maybe the woman in the Honda had crept up from the line in her haste to beat the next set of poorly timed/constant red lights in Philly. Or maybe our bus driver didn't take his turn at the perfect angle. Regardless, as we made the turn it became clear that only one of us was going to make it, and we were way, way, way bigger than that brand new midnight blue Honda. She tried to back up but a truck blocked the way. She tried to move over to the right, but was cornered by the curb. Our bus inched forward, closer and closer until the bus and the Honda were parallel, one inch apart, and diagonally blocking the whole street.
At this point the truck behind the Honda backed up, drove up onto the sidewalk, and drove down it until it could get back into the street and went on its merry way. But as the passengers around me pointed out, the Honda was pegged.
Crazy white lady now earned her rep as crazy white lady in our story. She had the nerve to get out of her car and start yelling at the bus driver. "You left me no room!!!" I heard her yell. One woman in the front yelled back, "He can't yell back at you but I sure as hell can!!!" The woman stomped around, went back to her car, and put her hands on her hips as she imagined her brand new car with a swath of scrape across the entire left side.
"Oh I know she is not just standing there with her hands on her hips," one woman commented. At this point people were thinking about getting off the bus, and another bus had already come up behind us. The pressure was on.
Our bus driver, with talent and grace, very slowly reversed until the woman could inexpertly, and awkwardly reverse her car, and we drove away with a cheer. I stole a seat from someone who had considered getting off and sat down with a sigh.

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