I remember on the last day of elementary school in Ohio, the bus driver would make a special stop at the ice cream store and treat us all to a cone. Today, fast forward a few decades, I was riding on a trolley in Illinois with my sister and her children. We got on the wrong trolley but the driver said he would take us to our stop anyway. (The trolley is really a bus decked up to be a trolley with real wood seats.) After a few stops, the trolley driver said over his rock and roll music, "Oops, I forgot to take you to your stop." We said, no problem, as the kids seemed to enjoy sliding around on the wood seats.
Well, a half an hour later, we were all getting kind of sea sick, the kids had fallen silent, and finally, we made it to our stop. I saw my sister and the trolley driver exchange some money and I was like, Why is she giving him a tip? The trolley is free. I looked at the driver who smiled back at me through his rear view mirror. Ooh, creepy moment, I thought. Turns out, he gave us the money to get ice cream for the kids because he felt bad for our long ride. Can you believe that? I feel bad for thinking he was creepy. He was just nice. He was missing a few teeth though. This happened in a town where the Costco employees get hugs from shoppers’ children, and shopping at Ikea is a peaceful experience rather than a chaotic one such as in the Burbank Ikea which, to me, always seems like a packed street fair, and a major shopping ordeal to be avoided.
(Source: below)
I remember a long time ago when I was riding the RTD bus on Wilshire Boulevard, when the driver actually pulled over and yelled at us (adults) for something. I think it was because people were standing in the stairwell. I also remember sitting with cockroaches on that bus. Anyhow, I digress. $4 for ice cream and a free trolley ride! Thanks Midwest!
If you’d like to take a trip down RTD bus memory lane, go here http://members.aol.com/gsoma/labuspage.html. There’s actually a site for L.A. Bus fetishists. Could someone actually love buses more than this pigeon?
