MOANIN’ THE BUS STOP BLUES

BY: PATTY L. FLETCHER

FROM: AUTHOR’S THEY’RE ONLY HUMAN

NOVEMBER 2018

Hello. Campbell and I are glad you’ve popped in today because we’ve settled in for a rest here in the sun and we’re ever so glad to have someone to share our adventure with on this beautiful fall afternoon.

The sun is shining, the autumn birds are singing, the coffee’s hot, strong and fresh and I can’t think of anything better to do on such a fine day as this than to tell a story.

So, grab a cup and sit right down and I’ll tell you of our Monday afternoon calamity.

I’ve got to say that no matter how we do it, going to the grocery store is never as easy as just popping over to the store, running in for a couple items, then hurrying back home with our plunder. Nope, for us it always means riding the bus both to and from and lots of times we do have some sort of adventure.

But, today’s adventure was for sure a bit more troublesome than some we’ve had.

In fact, we’ve just had one of the hardest experiences going out ever. It might not have been so bad had I not decided to buy half the frozen foods section.

We got to the store fine and Campbell wigged and wagged all the way in only stopping once to say a brief hello to one of our friendly shopping assistants who had just come back from vacation. The store was very busy, so I didn’t mind at all waiting while someone got free from bagging groceries to help.

Once we got shopping, we had a fine time. As it turned out the very girl, we stopped to say hello to ended up being the one to help and she is very good at working with me and Campbell. She even understands making sure there is enough clearance for him to get passed things and we’ve worked out a great system for shopping.

We rolled right along with no trouble and I picked up quite a bit of stuff. Lots of frozen dinners, waffles, a large can of coffee, a carton of my favorite Ice Cream, and even some hot chocolate mix.

Everything went quite smoothly until I got to the bus stop to wait on the bus.

LET THE CALAMITIES BEGIN!

The first problem was that one of the handles on the bag with my coffee and ice cream in it broke, but it was an easy fix and a lady I ride the bus with quite often helped me tie a knot in the remaining handle to make a loop with which it could be carried.

Had that been the only trouble, I’d have done fine, but NOOOO!

When the busses pulled in even though I stood up to signal that I was ready to catch one of them neither bus driver acknowledged me and since my helpful friend had gone into the store to shop I ended up missing the bus because poor Campbell did not know which to take me to and by the time I got out into the area where they pull in they were leaving.

Annoyed didn’t quite cover how I felt at that moment. My arms were aching from having held all those groceries for so long and Campbell was starting to do the I got-to-go-pee-pee dance.

So, to make a long story short I had to wait another 20 minutes, then ride the entire route to get back to our stop by the house and while we were on the bus, we had to change seats midway through because a wheel chair passenger was getting on at the station and they had to have the spot we were sitting in. If that weren’t enough while transferring from one seat to the other that noisome bag with the broken handle split wide-open spilling its treasure all over the floor.

To say Campbell and I were tired dogs once we’d arrived home would be an understatement.

Now,I’ve a nice fresh strong cup of coffee. Nice friends to share a story with. My freezer is full to running over with all sorts of yummy things to eat, and all is right with our world.

Lesson learned?

Either don’t buy so many yummy things to eat or learn to take along a backpack to put groceries in for the trip home.