A Marshmallow on the Bus

Next Bus Please

It was a tiny bit warmer this morning, but still not comfortable if you are standing on a street corner, waiting for the bus. It’s the one real deal breaker. It can be warm enough walking, or warm enough on a subway platform, but there are corners in Manhattan in particular that defy even the most stalwart of bus riders. And the worst part of it? When the bus you see in the distance says, “Next Bus Please.”

I had coffee with me this morning, so I was braced. The bus pulled up to the stoplight and I looked up at the driver who opened the door and waved at me to come, get on his bus. The sign was still a foreboding “Next Bus Please,” but I thought, how scary is this really when all the buses stopping at this corner go to my stop anyway?

I stepped up and asked the driver, “So, where are we going today?” The driver boasted, “All the way to South Ferry, ma’am.” I paid my fareand took my seat. And I was the only one on a completely empty bus. In rush hour.

In that flash of a moment, in that pinprick of a second, I thought to myself, “The possibilities are endless.” I have an entire New York City bus to myselfand a driver who is not advertising our route – even though I knew it had to be the M5 bus. That’s the one that goes from that corner to South Ferry.

What if we were to go all the way to South Ferry together, him and me, without picking up any more riders? That would be so cool! Just to be honest, I have to say I’m not really sure where South Ferry is exactly – I’m fairly certain it’s where you get the Staten Island Ferry which I have never taken. I am sure there’s no North Ferry.

What if I decided in that brilliant momentnot toget off at my stop? Would I change the course of history like Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock when they went back to pre- WWII on Star Trek?  

Would the driver talk to me? I’d talk to him. Should I be coy and reticent or bold and adventurous? I could be sassy and let him know I really knew his route. Or I could just fold up on myself and play Angry Birds on my iPhone.

I wondered how long it would take for him to forget I was there. He would just keep driving this mystery bus with only one invisible passenger until we got to South Ferry where I could bid him a saucy goodbye.

But, by the time we reached the next limited bus stop at 145th Street, he’d turned on the M5 sign, replacing the “Next Bus Please.” A woman with a fleecy black hat, a girl with hot pink gloves and a rhinestone iPhone cover, and a guy with Beats headphones got on and took their seats.

Ten minutes later, I got off at the library. The course of history was left unchanged.