they've always told me I should write a book of my random thoughts

Friday, November 03, 2006

Crazy Lady on a Bus

So this week hasn't been the best week ever. Not really bad, because it could have been worse; but it was just annoying. I burnt my finger with hot grease, a pair of my pants got a hole in them while I was at work, I'm still training so I still have someone watching me over my shoulder, I got trapped in my apartment complex and was late for a meeting, etc. And so this annoying week has just made me tired. But these people from the singles group at church are going to see a band play tonight and several people have invited me and asked me to come. I kept putting them off because I'm tired and don't really want to go anywhere and was just in an overall annoyed mood and I need to clean a little before mama and daddy come up tomorrow. But then again, I know that I need to go and be social because I don't know that many people up here yet and I know that if I don't go now, I'm more likely to not go in the future and then I won't meet anyone and I'll become a hermit, or the crazy old lady down the road. So the bus ride home kind of made up my mind for me.

As I was getting on the bus, another lady was walking towards it too. I offered to let her get on first, because she looked a little older and looked like she might be have trouble standing for a long time and looked like she was freezing. Well, she thanked me and said something about the weather, because when the weather channel says it's going to be 60 in a few days, people start talking. Well, I made a comment of 'yeah, it's been cold; but I just moved up here from Georgia and so I'm always cold." Thinking a slight little comment about the weather and then our conversation would be over. But, oh no. She goes into this whole spill about her boyfriend from Florida and her brother and sister and father, and then about how bad her social worker was and how she hurt her knee and how she wasn't on drugs and how they called the cops on her. I'm thinking this lady is nuts. I also thought that she would stop talking once other people got on the bus, but no, wrong again. She talked the entire 20 minute bus ride. I know all about this womans life and her future and hopes and dreams and I don't even know her name. And people on the bus keep looking at me like 'I can't believe she's telling you all this' and we weren't even in seats next to each other.

I realized that this lady just need someone to talk to, so I listened; I didn't say anything, because it was obvious that she just needed someone to listen to her. She taught me a lesson, whether she realized it or not; she taught me to be social and get out there and do things involving other people even when you're tired. Because I don't want to be that crazy lady on the bus in 30 years. I want to have people that I can share things with and have that person to person interaction on a weekly basis.I don't want to have to ramble to people on the public bus just because I don't know anyone to have that interaction with. Yes, I have several people that I can call on the phone, but you don't have those facial expressions and visual cues. So here I go tonight... to hear this band... tired, with my hurt fingers and all... I might fall asleep in the middle of it, but at least I'll be being social.

* side note: At the stop before me, I think a guy that got on had a peg leg and he kind of looked like a pirate. I kid you not; if he had had an eye patch on I would have found it tempting to go "Arg, matey!"