The CTA is always a joy to ride in the winter time. The buses are packed because no one wants to walk in the single-digit, windy weather. So people cram into the seats and aisles with their winter coats and handbags the best they can. It’s not the most comfortable mode of transportation, but it is what it is so we deal with it. Today, I had the opportunity to sit next to a delightful woman in her 40s in the back of the bus. Side by side, we were packed in, I reading my book and her reading her mail. A young girl who didn’t have a seat was standing in the aisle directly in front of the woman I was seated beside. Well, if you’ve ever ridden a bus before, you know there’s a lot of stop and go and people’s bodies do a lot of shifting, especially while standing. Each time the bus would accelerate, the girl standing would sway backward and rub up against the seated lady’s mail. The seated lady had no patience for this and started jabbing the young girl repeatedly with her papers every time accidental contact was made. At first, I was quite amazed that she was reacting this way. It’s just a part of public transportation: you can’t treat the bus as your personal office, especially when it’s standing room only in December. The young girl did what she could to maneuver her body so she wouldn’t hit the lady’s mail (and wouldn’t get jabbed again) but her attempt wasn’t very successful. The next time the girl rubbed against the mail, the seated lady started kicking her… yes, a repeated boot to the calf. That’s when I had had it. I felt bad for the poor girl getting abused so I stuck up for her. Without looking up from my book, I drove my elbow into the ribs of the woman. She stopped kicking, stopped jabbing, and turned her head to stare at me stunned. I never looked at her, just kept reading the biography and laughed. Ah, the joys of winter time in Chicago!
