why i don't take the bus

i try to avoid taking the bus at all costs and today reaffirmed why. i had some extra time, and in my desperation of needing a job, i took advantage of the hour to hand out as many resumes and fill out as many job app's as i could - even though it meant taking the bus. the ride there was just how i like it. minimal waiting, minimal people, and a fast ride. the trip back made me cringe! waiting at the stop this woman with drawn on eyebrows and make-up caked on so thick you could see her mask coming far before you could even notice her red jacket. she came up and started engaging me in a conversation i wasn't wanting to have in the first place. the whole time she talked about her life story of a medical career, and medical conferences, and who knows what else [she didn't stop chatting even when motorcycles were roaring by, and i was focusing more on her clown face than her words]; so i did the ever pleasing, smile and nod.
after i finally backed away enough that said woman got the point and took her make-up crusted face out of my view, and stuck it in a duo tang, another woman came up to the stop. i made the mistake this time of asking her one simple question about the bus, as i noticed she had the schedule with her. however that one question somehow developed into a conversation about how she loves the bus because her ex-boyfriend treated her terribly by never taking her anywhere, and thus for her to have any independence, or sense of fun she gravitated to the bus to get out into life. sad really. but she was helpful in the beginning, so i was friendly back. she wondered why i wasn't familiar with the bus route, so i said just i was up here to pass out resumes. she then asked if i had any resumes left, because she was going to be passing by a place she noticed was hiring, and would drop off a resume for me. hmmm...just a nice offering of goodwill? sure, maybe, perhaps...but i've seen way too many creepy movies of people figuring out all your personal information and stealing your identity! i made up some excuse as to not hand her a resume, obviously, that would be a stupid thing to do.
after my enthralling conversations, i stepped onto a crowded bus and held onto the scuzzy pole all the way back.
lovely.