Adventures on Edmonton Transit

So, a drawback to Ian's new job is that he requires the car, every day. That means that Mary and I are on our own to get around, both to Jonah's place, or anywhere else we may want to go. Now, it's not too bad, we are fairly close to a couple of major bus routes, so we can easily get downtown, and from there, anywhere in the city. The problem with the bus is that we don't live in a very nice neighbourhood, they call us "inner city." The neighbourhood that the bus goes through after leaving here is even worse. Many of the people who get on the bus smell of alcohol and stale urine, and often they try to get away without paying, which leads to yelling matches with the bus driver. Yesterday was absolutely fascinating (in an extremely unpleasant way). The first bit of fun was trying to get on the bus with Mary in her stroller. The bus driver sat there as I struggled to lift her and the stroller up the stairs. A fellow passenger finally took pity on me and helped us up the stairs. We found our seat, and at the next stop, a very smelly gentleman (honestly, he reeked like a polecat) stumbled onto the bus, and mumbled incoherently at the bus driver. The bus driver immediately started bellowing at the gentleman about no free rides, and told him to get off. This lasted for about 5 minutes. The stinky fellow finally got off when a couple of passengers also got up and told him to get off the bus, apparently he does this several times a day. Things were quiet for the next couple of stops, but that didnt last. The next character to get on the bus was a young...er...harlot. It always amazes me that those girls start working so early in the day, it was only about 2 in the afternoon. She was obviously as high as a kite, and dressed in a most provocative (and unattractive) manner. She was loud and foul mouthed, but thankfully she got off at the next stop, less than two blocks down the street. I guess it's hard to walk while wearing six inch heels. We proceded on through Chinatown, where a gaggle of old asian folk got on the bus, jabbered at Mary, and got off a couple of stops later. We finally got downtown, and another young woman got on the bus, struggling with a stroller. This time a passenger quickly went to help her, and admire her baby. Except it wasn't a baby. It was a stuffed lamb, all wrapped up and cozy in the stroller. The girl even adjusted the top of the stroller so that the sun didn't get in her lambs eyes. How strange. We finally made it through downtown, and by this point the bus was running quite late. So, the driver decided to drive like a maniac. He sped through the streets, and cut people off. We finally got to my stop, and once again the bus driver sat there as I struggled to get Mary off the bus without tossing her on the cement. I can't say that I blame him for being a crochety jerk though, he has to deal with oddballs and polecats all day long.

So, the music store HMV has had a human rights violation filed against them. Some woman in Ontario filed a grievance against them because they sell Gangsta' Rap. People can be so stupid sometimes.

Anyways, Mary just started being a shrieking monster all of a sudden, so I should probably shove a bottle in her or something.