Post Game Celebration

I got tickets to the Seahawks game and, well you know how that turned out, but this is about the real show that started after the game was over. I walked up to the International District bus tunnel and got in line to catch a ride home. We crammed as many people as we could onto the bus and headed on our way. The driver rolled right past the Pioneer Square stop and had no intention of stopping at University Street Station except that someone needed to get off. That's when all hell broke loose.

There was a group of older people waiting at that stop, and when the driver told them there was no room, one white haired old shrew absolutely went ballistic. I had parked at the Evergreen Point Park & Ride (right at the East end of the 520 floating bridge), and so found myself a seat as close to the front of the bus as I could since I would be one of the first ones off. This gave me a front row seat for the whole show.

Unfortunately for the driver the woman had her foot in the door so he could just close the door and drive away. As a result he had to listen to her scream a profanity laden tirade about how long they had been waiting and how they had no intention of waiting any longer. She then began to demand to know why he hadn't scheduled more busses since he knew that there was a game getting over at that time. A quick side note: Apparently this woman has yet to learn that the world does not revolve around her, and what's more, seems to be under the delusion that other people should have gotten off the bus and waited for the next one to make room for her and her group.

At this point she forced her way on, started screaming at everyone to move to the back of the bus, and physically began pushing people out of the way. She got up to where I was sitting, pointed a finger in my face, and said, "you need to move so someone else can sit down." While I normally would give up my seat to an older woman, after witnessing the preceding tirade I didn't feel inclined to encourage this kind of anti-social behaviour in the future by letting her have her way, I looked her in the eye and simply said, "no" and then looked away. Of course this set her off even more and she repeatedly called me an a$$ hole and began demanding that the driver call the transit police and have me kicked off the bus.

Another man on the bus apparently had heard all he wanted to and then told her, "we all waited a long time for the bus and we got on first so shut your f*#ing mouth." The man who was with her, presumably her husband, lost it and shouted, "f#$ you, you mother f#*er" and began pushing his way through the crowd trying to grab the guy. A few people held him back long enough to compose himself, and the bus driver was finally able to get the door closed and start moving again. We spent at least 5 minutes, probably longer, at this stop with all of this drama.

As luck would have it, once we got out of the bus tunnel and onto the freeway, traffic was barely moving, making for a long ride. The old lady turned it down from 10 to about 7, but still wasn't able to give it up. The whole ride she wouldn't stop griping about how incensed she was, and I heard her tell everyone around her at least 25 times that I was an a$$ hole. By the time we got to the Montlake stop in the U District, a young woman standing in front of me had had enough and turned and told her that her language was far worse than anything she had ever heard from any of the construction crews she works with and that she owed the entire bus, but in particular the driver an apology. This didn't go over well, but at least didn't send her into another psychotic rage.

The muttering continued all the way across the 520 bridge, and when we got to my stop, I heard her shout, "have a nice day." Presumably this last bit of sarcasm was meant as a final jab at me, but I just got off the bus without even looking back. The funny part of all this, that I probably shouldn't be proud of, is that the whole time I heard her berating me to everyone who could hear her, I couldn't help smiling and chuckling to myself. I found it so amusing that I could completely ruin her whole afternoon by simply not yielding to her demands and refusing to respond to her after that. I kind of wanted stir the hornets nest just a little further as I was getting off the bus by saying, "the only reason I didn't give up my seat is because you're a bitch" but instead took the high road and kept my mouth shut.

In retrospect, I should have given my seat up to one of the other ladies who were behaving themselves, but there was absolutely no way I was going to encourage this woman by letting her think that she can get what she wants by freaking out and acting like a psychopath. At this point I can't help but wonder what kind of career she had prior to retirement that might have contributed to her unbelievable sense of entitlement. I keep thinking she must have been an attorney. Who knows, but I'm sure that she'll spend the entire week telling everyone who will listen about all of the horrible people on the bus.