Monday, February 1st, 2021

This bus driver flies over speed bumps. He slides around turns like a BMX biker playing bumper cars. I’m standing at the center of the bus, desperately hanging on to one of those handholds that replaced the straphangers’ straps. Plenty of seats are available. I can’t get to them. Every time I try to move, gravity shifts in another direction. I’m holding my phone in one hand. I would put it in my pocket so I could use both hands to navigate the handholds and poles, but my pockets never seem to be where my hand and phone hit my body. The driver slows slightly as he approaches bus stops, but not enough to make walking possible. He doesn’t actually stop at any of them. The overhead announcements call out their names, but it’s set wrong. It’s naming the stops in reverse order, as it would on a return trip. It’s good that I know where I’m going. The bus finally stops at the Heart of the City. I stumble off and walk on sea legs one block east to the gelato shop. I settle onto a bench with a hot sachlab to steady my nerves before heading on home.