Public Transportation IV

Getting on modes of public transportation during peak times can be tricky and, at times, dangerous. I usually do okay since I am both small and nimble. My size allows me to slip in free spaces at the last second, right before the doors close. My ability to contort and bend my 5’6” frame in odd positions makes it possible for me to squeeze into open places on the bus and subway previously thought, well, unsqueezeable.

Unfortunately, one morning, my special powers offered no help.

It was a freezing, windy, and snowy morning. Of course, every bus that pulled up was packed with people. Finally, after watching three buses go by, I made the decision that I would get on the next bus NO MATTER WHAT.

The bus pulled up. People pushed and cut line to get out of the cold. The stairwell was full, so I stepped back until it cleared. Suddenly, a woman barreled through the line and jumped on the stairwell right in front of me! The audacity! The nerve! Her rudeness overwhelmed me.

If she was getting on that bus, then I WAS TOO. I flattened myself against her coat and wiggled my body on that bus. I teetered on the edge of the last step and perilously clung to the handrail.

Then, something I NEVER anticipated happened. The bus driver CLOSED THE DOORS WITH ME IN BETWEEN THEM! He sandwiched, he smashed, me in the doors! Shocked, I yelped and fell out... a crumpled heap of winter clothes and schoolbooks. The driver, not too remorseful, mumbled that he didn’t see me. The door then slammed once again and the bus floored it down 116th street, leaving my bruised body and ego behind it on the sidewalk.