A Rose By Any Other Name...

A rose by any other name is still an angry drunk homeless woman that has nothing better to do than to ride the bus and angrily assault other passengers and the drivers.

Last week, I reported on my Facebook timeline that I'd picked up an angry homeless woman who then proceeded to nitpick and ridicule me for the following two hours.  She returned again, on Friday, but this time she was accompanied by her daughter, who is equally as angry and drunk as her mother.

Day began by my picking them up on 8th Street.  They were slow to get moving, so another patron boarded the bus ahead of them.  He never pushed them aside or anything.  Just boarded the bus, minding his own business.  This action prompted the daughter to rush onto the bus and verbally shakedown the rider.  Then once seated, the inebriated duo proceeded to verbally assault me, relentlessly.  I laughed it off at first.  For most of the ride downtown, actually.  Admittedly, however, I admit it began to affect me.

I know it shouldn't bother me.  That I shouldn't allow such behavior to affect my attitude, but one can only be a punching bag for so long before the abuse naturally seeps into the cracks.

My father was a terrible alcoholic when I was growing up and what he'd do on some of his benders is toss on some old records then sit me down at the table and he'd tell me what my problems were and how worthless I was, between swigs of his strongly mixed glasses of rye and 7-up.  Many o' weekends were spent at the kitchen table, methodically being broken down to the minstrel sounds of Roger Whittaker and Ray Price, with some Willie peppered in there, for good measure.  To this day, I can't hear Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans" without reminiscing about what a worthless piece of shit I was in the eyes of my drunken father.  It's bittersweet, really.  Good song, with terrible memories.

Nothing can be done about the angry drunk woman, commonly known as "Rose" among all the drivers.  As affected by the abuse as I was, I was relieved to learn that every driver has this negative experience with this woman.  She's been forcefully removed from many buses, by police and other authorities, but she always comes back.  She refuses to pay when she rides the bus, but feels she has the privilege to abuse everyone around her.  No matter who you are, she's gonna be a gunnin' for ya.

With the lifestyle she's been leading, for what I presume has been years, I'm certain she's not long for this world.  One day in the not-too-distant future, I'm sure, I'll be sitting in the drivers lounge, downtown, and will hear some some news about the passing of "Rose".  I predict that some of the drivers will trade anecdotes, fondly remembering how she called them a "worthless cocks*cker" or worse.  We'll all have a laugh and go on about our day, never giving another thought to this woman.

It's sad that a person could possibly live the span of a lifetime and have nothing to show for it, but a few stories showcasing her anger or pissing herself on a city transit bus.  It's pitiful.