The Bus Csar

There's this one guy who rides my bus every morning, and he's talkative. Every day, when he gets on, he says hi, and the bus driver says "Hi Steve", and the developmentally disabled guy in the back says "Hi Steve" (the other thing he always says is "Look at the big brown dog" in a very full voice anytime he sees a dog, which is often in the morning, when people are out for their daily walks).

Anyway, Steve always talks with the driver and some of the other passengers, but I usually just stay quite and read whatever it is that I have with me. He's not an unpleasant person, it's just not my style. He dominates the room, however, and I know when he goes on vacations (Las Vegas two months ago) and his political views (thinks Bush is an idiot, in a semi-informed manner. Today's comment: "Did you know that Rumsfeld actually re-wrote what our definition of torture is?". Maybe partially correct, but missing the point.)

Today, Steve started talking about me, saying "that guy doesn't talk much, does he?" I raised my head, saying something like "not really". He asked what I was reading, and I showed him the New York Times Magazine. He responded by saying: "Oh, so he's better than the rest of us..."

Nice. We continued the conversation, and talked about our jobs. He's a bill collector ("I sit at a computer and mess up peoples credit ratings"). It all ended friendly.

But still, it's not everyday you get accused of haughtiness by the most popular guy on the bus.