Why I like riding the bus, example #1

[Lydia Leftcoast]

I often have interesting encounters on the bus, even in a transit-poor city like Minneapolis.

Last night, I was coming home from seeing a movie near the U of MN campus (I live on a direct bus line from the U) and I pulled out my current book, a mystery by Russian author Boris Akunin (in English translation).

I noticed that two young girls were whispering excitedly and pointing at my book.

I smiled at them, and one of them said in an obviously Eastern European accent, "That is my favorite author. I didn't know he was translated into English."

I started talking to them. It turned out that they are here on an exchange program from a city in Siberia (they didn't tell me which one, I suppose most Americans wouldn't care). They were both huge Boris Akunin fans and had read the book I was reading. They wanted to know how far I'd gotten, so I told them where I was in the plot.

Then one of them asked where I had bought the book. She wanted to take an English translation of Boris Akunin back home as a souvenir.

I told them, and then it was time for them to get off the bus and transfer to another line.

I miss these kinds of encounters with foreign people, elderly people, quirky small children, quirky adults, and even crazy people when I drive.

[texanwitch]

1. I have two cars now but I still ride the bus sometimes.

Houston has a decent bus system, and I live on a bus line.

You can always tell who is new to riding buses, they are very jumpy for some reason.