So, ever since I first started taking the bus (a VERY long time ago...at least it seems that way...), I've taken the 24 route, and very often I take it late at night. This isn't all that exciting because route 24 isn't a super-popular route, and it's not anywhere near the universities or anything which we all know makes for a much more exciting bus ride.
Anyways, there is a man who takes the 24 every single night. Now, I know you might think that I'm especially creepy for this one, but you would notice too if someone who looked and acted like this took the bus every night with you. So, this man is probably about 45 or 50 years old, but it's hard to say because he is completely bald. There is not a single hair on any part of his body that is visible. Not even stubble. It's kind of crazy. However, I imagine that if he did have hair that it would be grey. And this is why:
His eyes, pants, shoes, bag and hat are all various shades of grey. His coat was once a tan colour and that has undeniably faded to a strange grey colour. All his clothes just look so worn and used that they lost all their colour. Even his skin is a kind of pale grey colour, although it's not a particularly striking shade of grey. He's just grey. He has a faint smell of baby powder hanging around him that is kind of endearing to me. Even so, he's a kind of guy that you would imagine is almost invisible (unless you are particularly observant and take the bus every day with the same guy). Like he just sort of fades into the background. No one really seems to notice him, and it's very interesting to me.
Another point that I find especially intriguing is this: He talks to himself. I know, not all that exciting, but when I say that I really mean it. It's almost like he is having a controversial conversation with someone who sits on a seat near him. He nods and shakes his head, and his mouth forms inaudible sentences and his hands move as if he is a hand talker. He even looks in a certain direction sometimes like he's speaking with someone who is really there. This brings to mind a case of schizophrenia, like in "A Beautiful Mind", but I'm not a doctor, so I can't say that for sure. Now, I'm sure some of you are thinking, If this guy is making all these movements and talking and stuff, why aren't people constantly looking at him? Like I said before, it's almost like he's invisible. People just don't look at him, even if he's sitting in the very center of the bus. Also, he's pretty discreet about it. I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't started seeing him everywhere. And I really do. I see him at the terminal, and walking down the same street as me, and at the grocery store.
He walks with a very defined limp, and sometimes, when he gets off the bus, he breaks into a hobbling run. He lives in an apartment building, and it's almost like he cannot wait to get back there. I never see him with anyone else, and sometimes he likes to make conversation with the bus drivers, but really, he looks like a very lonely guy. And now that I think about it, I've never seen him smile, even when he's talking with the drivers.
There isn't too much of a point to this post I guess, but I just wonder about his life. Whether he really is lonely, or if he has a family. Why he looks so grey? Where did the colours go? His eyes have a kind of emptiness in them that's really very sad. I'm sure I will keep seeing him, and I will be very sad and thoughtful indeed on the day I don't see him on the 12:00am 24 bus.
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