Bad Vibes

There's been some weirdness in the air. Yesterday morning as I was getting off the bus, the doors slammed shut in front of me. I think the driver wasn't paying attention, because as I reached the front of the bus I looked toward her, meaning to say thanks, but she was looking the other way out her side window, perhaps checking her mirror in preparing to pull back out into the road. Fortunately no damage done (the doors caught the tip of my shoe and reopened), but it was close. Kind of jarring when you're not fully awake yet. Some days just getting to work is work.

Later on, while on my way home, I got bitched out by a panhandler because I ignored her. That's a new one, a panhandler with issues. To be honest, I've been ignoring panhandlers for almost 30 years, mainly because I don't like the idea that I may be supporting someone's drug, liquor, or cigarette habit in the guise of a request for money for food (and in instances when I have had surplus food on me and offered it to someone, I've been rebuffed and scowled at), but also because I think it's unfair to give money to one person and not to the others who are also out there asking, so it's just easier not to make eye contact or engage. Obviously there's no easy answer, but I guess the woman had a valid point.

This morning's commute sucked, but not for the usual reasons. Traffic on route 28 (the Fellsway) was backed up as far as my street, which fortunately is a very unusual occurrence. It has happened a couple of times before, but I haven't seen cars backed up so far. There were some problems on 93 south this morning, and a lot of people take 28 south to get over to Storrow Drive or get onto 93 by Mystic Avenue. When things get messy, the backups can extend all the way through the ridiculous light cycle at Wellington Circle, but where I board the bus is about a mile and a half from 93, so things had to be really screwed today. Instead of standing around watching traffic crawl by, I opted to walk up the road ten minutes to an intersection where two other lines meet my usual one, and caught a different bus there.

When I finally made it to Wellington and onto an Orange Line train (20 minutes later than usual), there was no AC in the car, and of course the train was fully packed, and just for good measure we had to stop in the tunnel outside North Station because the trains up ahead of us were not yet moving. Yeah, good times. But really, it's been a long time since I've had a rough morning commute, so I have no real cause to complain. But we're going away this weekend, and I hope the vibes or karma or whatever has sorted itself out by then.