Adventures on Public Transportation

It's always nice to have transportation readily available, isn't it?

That's why it's nice to have a car. If you own a car, that means you don't have to rely on others for rides, you don't need to know the bus schedule, and you go places on your own time. Having a bike is another nice option for most, mainly if you're living in the city.

Because of having a car I can drive, I tend to not ride the bus. Really, there's no need and why should I pay fare for a ride that doesn't leave when I'm ready? But today, I decided to go on the adventure that the bus gives.

The whole idea started when I remembered what day it was. Today was July 11th, or 7-11. Every year, I want to participate in the day, so I was determined to get my booty down to get my free mini slurpee. I had to go on a run today as well. Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, I took myself on a 5.5-ish mile run to the 7-11. I got my slurpee and walked about a mile to the bus stop. (The next bus was coming in about an hour, so what would be the point in riding a different bus there?)

For some people who don't ride the bus often like myself, it can feel kind of like an adventure. You're in town with the only other way to get home being a long walk home. The bus decides when it wants to come, and where it wants to go. I suppose it's the same idea of how people get excited to ride the train. It's not something you get to do everyday.

There is simply one thing that I learned from my ride on the bus today. There are some strange people that ride the bus.
Before even embarking on the journey, I sat at the bus stop and listened to two idiotic stoner preteens talk. One threw his backpack on the ground, then freaked out because he remembered the pipe he just bought was in there, and hopefully it didn't break. Then they talked about other stoners they knew who were on probation for getting caught with pot. Oh yes, there was more than one friend of theirs they knew who was on probation.
I got on the bus with the two stoner kids, one woman who looked like she'd hit the hard stuff, and another woman who gave off the vibe "When I'm around people, I talk to them even if they're not listening. When I'm at home I talk to my cats." She was just a little creepy. There were some normal people who got on the bus as well, but the weird outweighed the normal.
Out of all of the people on the bus, there was one person who concerned me the most.

A young boy.

Now, you may think it's strange to have a young boy worry me, but let me just tell you the story of this young boy. I know it, because he told it to the bus driver loudly and proudly. He had ridden almost every bus, and decided that he wanted to ride this bus today to see where it went. Once this bus went on its loop, he would ride another bus home. He wants to be a truck driver when he grows up.
No, his parents weren't around. Yes, he just liked to ride the buses.
He was 11 and 3/4ths years old.

I suppose I could have admired his spunk, but all I could think was, "Where are his parents?! Aren't they worried that their kid is just randomly riding around on buses?"

Finally before snapping because of the guy who decided to sit next to me that was constantly sniffling, I arrived home. (I can't stand annoying sounds. They just stress me out.)

I think the buses might be a little more normal during the school year when there are more students, but for now? There's an odd bunch that ride the bus.

When was the last time you rode on a bus? Who has been the strangest character you've ever seen riding on the bus?