Eric’s earlier post about moving to Petworth can be read here. And his personal blog can be found here.
The likelihood of unusual things happening on a bus is far greater than it is on a subway. Why is that?
The other night it was cold and rainy, so I hopped on the 64 bus at Fort Totten for a ride over to my house near Rock Creek Cemetery. At the first stop, a number of people got on. After several people boarded, a guy got on the bus, half-heartedly felt around his pockets for a non-existent transfer, and said to the driver, “Hey man, it’s my birthday.”
After being waved past, the guy took a few steps in, then addressed the entire bus, “Hey, it IS my birthday. Everybody say, ‘Happy Birthday Kev-iiiiiiiin!'”
“Holy balls,” I thought. “This dude is doing a call and response…on a city bus.”
Then a chorus of people erupt around me, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEV-IIIIIIIIN!”
“Holy balls,” I corrected myself. “This dude is doing a call and response…on a city bus…and it worked!”
Before moving to Petworth, I’d never ridden on a Metro bus. There really is no good reason for this, just that our old apartment was two blocks from the Red Line, as is my office. However, since I’ve been introduced to the bus system, I’ve noticed something that I don’t quite understand. It seems that the likelihood of crazy nonsense happening on the bus is significantly larger than on the subway. I think most people who use both modes of transportation would agree with this assumption. My question is: Why? Story continues after the jump. (more…)
