high horse

i was VERY releived when my bus broke down this morning. i was already running late (josh was supposed to take out the garbage, but didnt, and although he cleaned up the kitchen after dinner last night, he left a few choice areas alone and i had to attend to them with my fingernails - oh and it's been a year and he still thinks we have a disposal (read: i had to clean the drain out). granted he had the worst day of work EVER yesterday and had to leave this morning for work at 5:45, so although i was peeved, i really don't blame him for anything and was upset for all of 3 seconds), so when the driver took a too sharp turn onto mt auburn street and the cables came off the wires and the bus shut down, i looked at the time with a groan. my frustration, however, quickly melted away to something else...

until that point, i was lost in my new yorker, with the bus' AC unit blowing a cool wind directly on me. but as soon as the bus lost power, the breeze stopped and the most unpleasant odor wafted over me. is that coming from outside? nope - it was coming from the exremely dirty old man next to me and his three garbage bags full of bottles. i tried to breathe as little as possible and looked around for the slightest inclination that any one other than me was noticing this pungent ordor that smelled like the recycling center after a frat party, layered with the hint of "fridge after tahira and i left milk in it over winter break freshman year". when the bus driver told everyone to get off and get on the next bus, i couldn't have gotten out faster. fresh air never smelled so good.

does this make me a bad person? maybe. i did feel a little guilty about being so repulsed by the smell. i don't exactly smell like morning dew all the time, and who am i to judge this man's life and what he does and does not have? he should be able to ride the bus, just like anyone else who can afford the fare. if he has the right to ride it, do i have the right to make sure we are far apart?