Oh what a night on the 15

I should have known when I got on the bus and was nearly run over by a radio controlled car, that this would be no ordinary night. It seems the guy sitting across from where I wanted to sit, just purchased said car for his 7 year old nephew for Christmas, but he couldn't wait to get home to play with it, so he had to run it up and down the aisles of the crowded bus. So, we go one stop, and 4 punk looking girls, each with a different color of neon hair, get on. They seem nice enough, except for one keeps singing the line, "I....wanna rock and roll all night...." over and over again in a real whiney voice. One of these girls sits next to me. Next stop, a bunch of gangster looking kids with their baggy pants that are held up by God only knows what, get on, with a baby in a huge stroller and arm loads of Chinese food....smelling up the whole bus. Next....the stumbling drunk crowd gets on.....and there are no seats....so the fact that they are stumbling becomes a real issue. I nearly had one guy in my lap. Another guy drops his coat, and a bottle of whiskey falls out. As he tries to get it, the hard hat he was carrying nearly falls on the head of the baby in the huge stroller. This sends the mother of the baby into a furry, and then of course the guys have to show their machismo and back her up. They start pushing and shoving, trying to push the drunk guys off the bus. Since this is nearly happening in our laps, the punk girl and I look to each other for moral support and shake our heads in disbelief. Luckily, the gangster kids got off at the next stop, before an all out riot ensued. The drunk guys then found seats (with a little help from me, because they were too drunk to notice them by themselves), the punk girl and I shared how this was the craziest we'd ever seen it on the 15, and I got off at the next stop, wishing the bus driver "good luck."

Once I was on the bus with one of my favorite drivers....a guy who had been a policeman in Baltimore, but it got to be too much for him, so he came to Denver to work for RTD. Someone asked him if he ever wanted a different route. He said, he was more afraid of the routes in the suburbs, because someone might hit him in the head with a laptop or something. At least on the 15, he knew what he was up against. That was one of the best things I've ever heard on the bus, but in thinking it over, I think I love the city for the opposite reason. I never know what I'm up against.....and it's never boring.