Xanax Monday - Metro 3

Another tweaked bus ride in Santa Cruz - a Seven-Minute Read

May 15, 2024

It is strangely calm and quiet on route #3B today, not the usual mobile loony-bin — which is a pleasant surprise. All nine passengers, in fact, look a little sedated, like they’d all decided to drop Xanax at the same time as a show of solidarity. Their eyes are dull and droopy, their smiles, benign. One is lightly dozing, another is happily munching from a bag of pretzels. Come to think of it, the local cannabis dispensary is not that far away … But, hell, maybe it is just springtime! I don’t know. Anyway, in their soporific states, no one’s making a scene. For a change.

Two guys in the back are swigging Buzz Balls Biggies - tequila cocktails in a fun, round plastic bottle as big as your head. It’s a party “to go”, such a convenient new product. As if there weren’t already enough ways to anesthetize oneself to the cruelties of having to live in California.

On each Metro bus, it seems, there is at least one person carrying on a long, repetitive conversation with an invisible companion. Today it’s a young bearded man who is, apparently, having an argument with his mom, though she is nowhere to be seen and he has no phone in his hand or ear. He’s speaking softly, but seems incensed about something she wants. “No, you always say that, ma!,” he hisses. “No! I said I am not going to do it, I told you.”

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if our solo conversationalists were to ever get together in one room? Would they, then, begin to talk with each other and maybe stifle the voices in their heads a little? Seriously, it might be a good experiment.

A very thin lady, maybe in her late 50s, is wearing black tights and a long striped t-shirt dress, oversized yellow Crocs on her feet. She looks as if she shops at Dr. Seuss Apparel. She has a face somewhat like a beagle - extraordinarily long and narrow. Her groceries are piled high in a baby stroller. ( Can we presume there’s no baby under there? ) On her lap is a plastic bag full of Lotto tickets - must be at least 50 of them. She’s madly scratching at them, one right after another. I sure do hope she is lucky today, because she must have spent all of her grocery money on those tickets.

A frail-looking elderly man sitting in what must be the Cadillac model of wheelchairs has on a Giants baseball cap and a too-large sweatshirt emblazoned across the chest JUST DO IT! And he was doing it, too. I was proud of him for adventuring out on his own. Were I his age, I would not likely be so brave. I have to say, though, that the buses are outfitted with a very secure chair-restraining system and automatic ramps to safely assist those who are wheelchair bound. Nice job, Santa Cruz!

A young man gets on wearing Day-Glo bicycle racing clothes that are so tight they look to be spray-painted onto his slim muscular body. He boldly tries to bring his very fancy bicycle on board and is told he can’t do that. He has to strap it on the rack on the outside of the bus. An argument ensues, because this, being Santa Cruz, authority must be resisted at least once a day by each individual resident. It’s a town rule. He growls, gets off and pedals away.

Okay… here it comes. I knew the quiet wouldn’t last. A cute, boisterous woman jumps up the steps, and begins a lively and provocative conversation with the driver. She is wearing a flirty, ruffled dress with a pattern of large yellow and orange flowers that is as loud as her voice. The shoulders of the dress are cut away to allow everyone to get a peek at her tattoos. She teases and jokes with the driver, then proceeds to say a cheery hello to each of us as she manic-skips down the aisle. She must have missed the memo that this was Sedative Day. She apparently thought it was Caffeine Madness Monday.

She turns to the man seated across from her and tells him in a non-stop barrage of words with enough volume for all of us to enjoy, “So, I’m getting the bus to San Jose today. I’m going to see my mom and an aunt from Nebraska that I haven’t seen for a long time. They will all be so glad to see how I have changed and how I’m really serious about it this time! I am serious! It’s gonna be really fun to see what they say when they see me!” The man frowns and blinks at this verbal assault. She asks him, “So, what do YOU do?” He says, “I usually mind my own business. That’s what I do.” His sarcasm is completely lost on her and she begins to tell him where she purchased her new pink sandals, “Can you believe it? Got them at Ross! Only six bucks. Cute, huh?” He gets off at the next stop, and it’s probably not even his stop.

Today I traveled a total of five miles round-trip to the bank and to the market,which are side by side. What used to take me 20 minutes in a car, takes two and a half hours on the Metro bus. But I did get about 3000 steps in, and I collected a few new characters for future stories. So that’s a double win if you ask me! Another beautiful day of celebrating diversity on the Santa Cruz Metro. Thanks for coming along!

If you liked riding on the bus with me today, you might want to read these: Bus ride #1 Mayhem on Six Wheels

Bus ride #2 Nine Characters in Search of a Story

Bus ride #4 Summer Solstice Party Bus

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