The God I Believe In Isn't Short 'a Cash, Mister*

So, here is this young lady on my bus. As soon as she got on I could tell she would be special. Another young lady she knows gets on the bus, and the first young lady launches into her tale of woe about how she hasn't eaten all day and has no money to buy food, and won't have any money until next week. Of course this tale culminates in a request for some money so she can "buy a drink".

Wait, the best part is coming up. For some reason, she starts delving deeper into her financial situation and how she pays her bills. "Well, when I get my cheque, first I pay the Lord by giving money to the church...." WTF? Back up please. God doesn't want you to starve. The Lord understands if you buy yourself food before giving your money to a church who is probably using it to spruce up the carpeting in the rectory.

*If you know what song this comes from, you are officially cool.

Name your price!

You know what's awesome? When people throw some random amount of money, say 63 cents, in the farebox (the fare is actually $2.45, in case anyone was wondering) and then look at the driver and shrug, "That's all I got. That's okay, right?" Um, and if it's not, what's your back-up plan? Perhaps you should have humbly asked BEFORE depositing your life savings into the box, rather than boldly assume the world owes you a favour. Because now you're out the 63 cents AND you'll have to come up with another $2.45 to get on the next bus.

I'm trying this at the grocery store next time. "My total is $117.48? Oh, well, I've only got 43 bucks. That's okay, right?"

5 year olds should be able to walk

The don't need to be in a stroller. And they certainly don't need to be in a DOUBLE stroller, with their 4 year old sibling (who should also be able to walk) and 47 pounds of crap in the basket underneath. And to think that you can bring this whole caboodle onto a bus during rush hour and expect that people on their way home from work are going to get off the bus to make room for you so that you can ride because you just couldn't plan your trip to Walmart at any other time of the day...well, that's just stupid.

I'm just sayin'.

It's not a request; It's a warning

In Ontario, buses have the right of way when exiting a bus bay or bus stop where they have to merge with moving traffic. Period. End of story. No argument, no exceptions. It's not a courtesy to let the bus back in -- it's law. If you are driving along and you see a bus against the curb with its left turn signal flashing....SLOW DOWN AND STOP IF NECESSARY!!! Do not speed up and attempt to hurry by the bus before the driver can pull out. We are still going to pull out and you are still going to have to slow down or stop, so why not just do it gradually and safely, rather than abruptly? And no, this isn't considered cutting you off because if you saw the signal and chose to ignore it, that's just you being an ass.

I'm a reasonable person. I do not expect the driver of a car immediately at my bumper to slam on his or her brakes. Even the second car might not see the signal. But when I'm dealing with a line of 7, 8, 9, 10 cars that are all flying past me, choosing to ignoring the law and the 20 ton vehicle that is slowly creeping into their lane, then I get pissed. I'm just going to pull out. If you "didn't see my signal", then you're a bad driver. Period. You are probably in la-la land, staring straight ahead at the road, not observing everything in the peripherals. I've had my signal on since you were 2 blocks away, if you couldn't see it in that time, you need corrective lenses.

The best is when people swerve into the lane of on-coming traffic to get around me, like that is somehow easier and safer than just obeying the law and STOPPING to let me in.