Harmony Joy Bus Ride
The bus broke down today! It was so exciting. It was my very first time. I knew it had to happen eventually, but the closest I’d come was being on a bus that rescued the passengers of another bus stuck on 400.
I thought I was doing pretty good on the way home today. It wasn’t super cold like it was this morning, it wasn’t super windy like yesterday, and I got to Mansell and 400 just as the southbound bus was making its turn. Once the light changed I illegally turned on to the onramp, sprinted toward that little bypass where the bus stops, skidded to a halt and got on; I was out of breath, but I wouldn’t have to wait another twenty minutes. It wasn’t not cold enough for me to look forward to that. The bus made it almost to Northridge before the alarms went off.
I still have no idea what was being indicated, but there were all kinds of beeps and bloops and buzzes going off at the front of the bus. Some riders may have exchanged glances, but for the most part everyone continued to sit glassy-eyed, listening to music or reading magazines or just staring out the window. The only time I’ve seen a whole bus react to something was that time some cars collided next to us and everyone thought the bus hit someone. Anyhow, the driver pulled off between the Northridge exit and the onramp, turned off the bus and fiddled around trying to get it to start again. After he left the bus to take a look at the engine people started to get more curious. When he came back and told us all to get off the bus, the silence was broken. Nobody complained that I could hear. It was mostly an exchange of other broken-down bus stories and some wondering at just what the HERO truck that pulled over thought they could do. MARTA has beaten away our hopes and expectations.
I put my balaclava back on (and tried to make it look not too much like a creepy ninja mask) and wondered whether or not to pull my bike off the front, either to prepare for the bus potentially bursting into flames or to just ride home from Northridge if things got too grim. The bus was leaking fluid out of the back, the HERO guys waved some flashlights around and scratched their chins, and eventually we all got back on the bus. A few minutes later an 87 bus came off of Northridge and stopped on the ramp, blocking all the traffic behind it, and we got on the new bus and continued to the station. We still arrived at North Springs before the next bus on the route, so things didn’t end up too bad. I wonder what broke.