The Clarity of Dimentia

On the bus ride home this evening, a new rider got on board and sat at the front side-facing seats. After about sixty seconds he spoke up and mentioned that the previous bus just passed him by, though he was standing at the stop. Nobody responded to this lost hagaard man with what appeared to be beginning stage dimentia. He was pleasant and well-dressed, just slightly askew.

After a long, silent moment, a mentally handicapped woman sitting across from him responded that it had passed her by too. After a few more sentences, an ex-con on parole joined in the conversation about the inconveniences and heartlessness of public transit.

These three had a common denominator: a lack of social inhibition. Dimentia, mentally handicapped and law-breaker mingled into a lovely exchange that any of us riders could have nodded in experiential agreement with and participated, but nobody spoke.

I smiled from my seat near the back and wished I could have put in my two cents worth! Mass transit is terribly inconvenient and sometimes down right insulting to both freedom and schedule, yet it does bring some joy and amusement when you strike up a conversation with a common denominator!