Riding the bus (Baltimore: school, buses, moving)

[jonjj]

Maryland Humanities Council - Programs - - Moving Stories: Getting Around Baltimore (http://www.mdhc.org/programs/practicing-democracy/moving-stories-getting-around-baltimore/ - broken link)

Tell your story or listen to others speak about their bus experiences in Baltimore. Should be interesting.

[Internal Breathing Fire]

One thing I found about riding buses in inner cities is that they all have the same BS.

-The back of the bus is known as the "hood section"
-Buses often come when they feel like it
-A lot of the bus drivers are actually cool, while some aren't
-If a group of teenagers board a bus and have a threatening vibe the bus driver won't say anything
-Teenagers love to rip the seats and write their hood or crew using a sharpie market on seats and windows.
-Even if the sign says no eating or drinking, you will find chicken bones, sun flower seeds, beer cans, liquor bottles, etc.. trashed, especially at night or when school kids get out.
-I've seen people fight, get jumped, stabbed, and even shot while on a bus, bus stop, subway, or subway station in almost every city I've been to.

Oh and some kids just act plain STUPID, like this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebo1evnF4TQ

Oh and tailgating is common as hell down here, 1 outta every 20 people don't pay to ride the train. Plus

[Woodlands]

I was on the MTA 13 bus one time.. went to the back and a guy had set up a mini CVS selling everything from soap, razors, candy, toothbrushes and various gadgets. A few people casually browsed through his wares as he kept a wary eye out for the driver. He was strategically positioned next to the exit door presumably to leap off if the driver stopped to confront him and/or the bus was boarded by an MTA transit cop. The driver was a women kept glancing in the mirror facing back in that direction but never made a move.....unless something occurred after I got off.

Other than that is better than facebook as you can over hear the latest street gossip "I gott go to court for......"; "I told that SOB that he better pay me my money or......"; " I told his daddy that this baby is his and....." and "I told my boss to kiss my......"; "Wait hold up driver, somebody's running for the bus"; "anybody got change for a twenty"