A moral tale

So I missed a whole day of work this week due to cat seizures (story to follow), and I needed to make up work this weekend anyway. Friday I called the bike store and they said my bike was ready, so I decided to leave work an hour early, swing by the bike store and get my bike, and just make up one additional hour of work this weekend.

The bus is pulling out, when some guy runs out in front of it and blocks it. He gets on, and he and the driver start threatening to punch each other (when two passengers are fighting, you get the driver, but when the driver's involved in the fight, I'm not sure what the protocol is). About then, I get out my cell phone, unlock the keyboard, and set it to the entry for 911, just to be ready if necessary.

The argument continues until the guy gives up, goes to the back of the bus, and lights up his crack pipe. As someone who wouldn't even dare drink a Coke under the No Eating/Drinking/Smoking sign, I have to admit, that's chutzpah!

In the meantime, a buzzer starts going off loudly and a red light flashes on the dashboard. To me, that would mean pull over, but the driver just ignores it and keeps going down the highway. I'm hoping the engine doesn't explode, and the woman next to me observes "This ride just keeps getting better and better.".

Finally, the driver is forced to pull over by the fact that the bus isn't running anymore. So there we are in the middle of nowhere, just standing around in the heat. A little entertainment is provided when the driver decides to call 911 on Crack Guy, but he's had time to dispose of his stash, so although 3 police cars show up, nothing happens. His protestations of injured innocence were, however, quite well performed; he was lying, and everyone knew he was lying, but with no evidence, he got away with the virgin act. At least that bit of dinner theater killed about 20 minutes, as the Transportation Authority couldn't be bothered to send out an extra bus, so we had a lot of free time on our hands.

We had to wait for the next bus an hour later, plus the 40 minutes late that it was, just on top of that. As it ended up, I got to the bike store at exactly the same time I would have if I'd left work on time, and now I have an hour of work to make up this weekend.

Moral: that'll teach me to leave work early.