Adventures in Commuting

There are times I resent being dependent on the vagaries of public transport, and there are times I enjoy all the encounters it brings.

Today had both.

The bus came a bit later than I'd expected, even though I'd summoned it by pulling out some fanfic and reading. And I was laden down with a gym bag (holding my good suit in its dry cleaning bag) and an extra shopping bag (with my Shabbos hat) because the dinner is at 6:30 and I won't have time to go home to change.

I get a seat by the next stop and manuever things so I don't take up more room than strictly necessary. What am I reading? "A Wizard's Song" by Telanu. Which means it's Harry Potter slash fic.

Partway through, a couple of girls who could almost pass for locals get on - they're wearing the same long skirts and little tops that the local girls wear. Except. They have key rings with pictures of JC hanging from their beltpacks, and little name tags saying "Sister _________ " and proclaiming their membership in "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints".

Definitely not locals. :)

I'm sitting alone on a double seat, and one of them sits next to me. And she's curious about what I'm reading, since it's in tiny print and three columns.

"A story a friend wrote." She asks more questions - what sort of story, what's it about, what's fanfic...

I gave her the impression it was a little romance about Ron and Hermione. Well, they do have one in this story, so. :) The Orthodox Jewish lady should not tell the young Mormon girl, "I'm reading a fairly explicit sex scene between Severus Snape and sixteen year old Harry Potter, and please let me get back to it."

She'd never heard of fanfic, she can't imagine a world without Star Trek, and slash would probably tear her little world apart. But it was better than discussing religion.

I ended up asking about *her* - where she went to school, what she majored in, how did she like New York, telling her about the true beauty of New York in the Fall (okay, not about her, but there are no minefields there.)

And then we get to the last stop and I have to wait for a train for longer than I want, so I'm late to work.

He owes me

I mentioned in an earlier post that I took my good suit and hat to the office with me. This was because it just seemed silly to go home, change and come back to a place a block away from my office - and it would probably entail using a car service at least one way, and that's money.

So. At about 1:15 (just as every other phone line was ringing *and* we had three people walk in), jonbaker calls. He's locked himself out of the house and is calling from our neighbors. I have to field my calls and walk ins, and tell my boss and call a car service and forget about a lunch break. It takes forever to get through to the car service and then I have to wait (I do get work done while waiting)for the car. We drive to my house, I hand Jonathan the keys to open the door, he hands them back to me, and I'm off back to work, although I do find the time to pick up a couple of slices of pizza and a soda. I have to - MamaDeb with low blood sugar is a very nasty dragon indeed, and I was running on coffee.

$21 including tip, not including lunch, for the round trip, and my nice relaxing lunch time gone (I did read more smut in the car, so there was that.)

He owes me. I'm not sure what, but he owes me. Any suggestions?

Edited to add that he's just called me, suitably contrite.