Bus Rider Diaries

1. The Smell
I smelled a faint, yet funny smell this morning. I looked around to see who it was coming from. Obviously, it was not me who was committing the olfactory crime against the bus population at large. After careful investigation, it was me. Rather my jean jacket. Since it's been so warm out, I started wearing my fall/spring jacket today without a care in the world. The jacket in question hadn't been washed since I wore it in the fall. Last year. I smelled like a skunk. Literally. It was a mild mix of moth balls and skunk. We don't have a skunk or moth balls in our closet, so it was kind of a mystery.

A guy on my bus this afternoon also had a problem with a smelly coat. His smelled like old, musty beer. The thing is, I like the smell of beer (but not the taste of it). However, this was just wrong. Plus, it was 10 times more potent than my gentle skunkish smell. I was getting a buzz just sitting behind him. It was like I really wanted to smell the jacket, but I really didn't want to smell the jacket... Anyways. There was only one reason for his jacket to smell so badly. Someone notices if the jacket they wear smells that terrible and he or she washes it. He did not have the sniffles or any other sign of a cold, so he could smell it, though he was probably used to it by then. It was not his drinking jacket because it was the middle of the afternoon and he was heading toward Sackville.

He made the same mistake I did! We both, in the midst of the excitement that comes with warm weather, wore our fall jackets for the first time today without washing them first! It could happen to anyone. Surely, this exact same thing has happened to many, many people in the last couple days. I would just like to take this time to recommend that everyone wash their light jackets before they do something impetuous like wearing them. At least give a thorough smell test, preferably in a location with little or no air circulation. You may be surprised with what you smell.

2. The Noise
I was minding my own business and listening to my mp3 player when my music was overpowered by someone elses. The back of the bus was filled with some loud rock music that some singer was yelling along to. My brother says that the genre of music is actually called Screamo. Even if a Christian band makes this kind of music, your parents object to it because they say that there is no way that it can be edifying and worshipful. I suddenly got the urge to crank up my music for two reasons. The first reason was because I wanted to hear my own music. The second reason was because I wanted to provide the other bus riders who weren't wearing headphones an alternative music choice. Something more inspirational, like the Pussycat Dolls. It was my little way of giving back to my fellow bus takers. I also thought it might make up for some of my smelliness.