A Friday in Chapel Hill

I was thinking today of a story in Tom Wolfe's book, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, about the "Merry Pranksters." In it was a repeated line comparing the bus to Life. You were either on the bus!!!!or not. My excursion to Carrboro, which is across the street from Chapel Hill, involved 4 buses with short rides. It's only about a mile but the bus from Fairoaks goes to town and then I catch the bus to Carrboro around the corner. I knew it was going to be a good day when the two classics profs got on and sat behind me. One of them knows I like to eavesdrop. He was talking to a quieter prof about travels in Italy. The phrase I liked was, "You can get anything at the Vatican pharmacy. The Holy Spirit and all that." Waiting for the bus coming back I started a conversation with a woman who had a page turner mystery in her hand but she wasn't reading it. That intrigued me so I commented on her bookmark, the magnetic kind that saves the place right at the paragraph one leaves. Sure enough, she wanted to talk, not read. We had a lot in common. She liked thrift stores, wondered why we have to hear endlessly about sordid news, asked why people ran for office and why they didn't say, "See this forehead? It's out the door!" when critics circled like sharks. Just as I got on the bus, a woman I can only call Slinky dashed up yelling at a homeless man that she'd be back in an hour. She must have been 5'9" and weighed 105 pounds most of that being the weight of tattoos. She was loud. Her dress was to the floor in shiny fabric unknown in Chapel Hill and backless. She sat opposite me and yelled at the bus driver, "Can we eat on the bus?" Bus Driver said, "No!" Slinky said, "I can't wait for my French fries." I leaned in and sang five words on five notes, "You'll justhavetowait." Her eyes popped open. An audience! She said, "I sing, too!!!!! I have an event on Friday. Can you come? I just got out of jail because when I sang last week my skirt was too short and a wind came up." The police noticed she had no underclothes. This time, though, she was properly attired but admitted she still had no underclothes. Then she said, "I can do pullups, too!" and proceeded to do about 15 on the bar above her. Bus Driver began sighing. A young black woman on the other side of me sat quietly observing. I said to Slinky, "Say! You could join Cirque d' Soleil!" I didn't know if she knew what that was. She brightened. She said, "I could sit on the moon! You have given me a dream! What's your name?" I said, "Mimsey." She said, "I'm Donna. I call myself MyDonna Remax." Suddenly she discovered she was on the wrong bus and tried to get Bus Driver to let her out in the middle of a five lane road. Bus Driver said she could get off at the next stop. I reprised, "You'll justhavetowait." When she sallied off the bus, she waved and said she would see me on Friday. I said to the air, "It's already Friday." I turned to the young woman and commented, "We should have asked for an autograph." Young Woman didn't smile or respond in any way but when it was my turn to disembark, she said, "You have a beautiful day!" as though she also was a friend. One never knows whom one might be influencing. Which reminds me of the car repair shop I saw in Carrboro. The sign read, "Gates of Beauty Body Shop. Peacemaker-Owner."
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....may the road rise to meet you as they say in old Ireland and may the travelers along the way be of good cheer...