Lunatic Laughing

This morning I saw the trolley arriving as I was walking up so my brother held the door for me. I was able to get on but it was pretty full so I had to stand at first. The ride there was so uneventful I felt I would fall asleep. It seemed like there was an air of lethargy about the trolley.

When I was waiting for the trolley so I could go home, somebody was standing in my usual spot. I couldn't tell if that was a sign of what was to come haha. I once again had to stand at first which was actually a good thing because it prevented me from falling asleep. I don't know if it is just a case of the Mondays but everybody seems to be sharing the same sentiment.

There was a creepy man on the trolley and be creepy I mean he was unusual in appearance, staring at everybody as if they owed him something, but he kept to himself. He was sitting on the ground and he would occasionally rub his head as if frustrated. I think it is strange that humans are naturally curious about our fellow man but we are trained to mind our own business or to stay clear of anybody who looks different. He exited the trolley and limped off to wherever he was going.

After that I struggled to stay awake. I imagined myself falling asleep and waking up in San Ysidro. Haha that would be terrifying at first but I think I would be able to laugh about it later. Thankfully I managed to stay awake.

When I transferred I accidentally bumped into this guy, well actually he bumped into me haha. I apologized and I heard him say sorry even with my headphones on. He started laughing like I had said something very witty. I tried not to laugh at the absurdity of his laughter and I continued to get on the trolley. The guy ended up sitting nearby and I tried to figure out why he had laughed so much but I gave up since I didn't recognize him. Only he knows. Maybe my voice was loud because I was wearing my headphones. Haha I could have been yelling at him but I don't think I was. Well if I ever see him again I think I will ask if I did. He got off relatively quickly after he had boarded.

After that had happened nothing else really happened or was interesting. Maybe I was just facing the wrong direction.
Until the next ride,
Alana

A Nosey Q-Tip

I barely made the trolley this morning. While on the trolley I saw one of the things that just cracks me up. There was this older gentleman who was wearing his hat backwards. That on its own is not weird or even really that amusing but when I looked at the rest of his wardrobe I realized that he was dressed like a teenager. I can't say that I know how old he is but I dalefinitely know that he is not a teenager. I know a person can be young at heart but I think that's a bit much. I tried not to look at him since I didn't want to be rude. When we transferred he went to a bus so I didn't have to worry about staring.

When I transferred I was surprised to see that there was very few people actually transferring to the trolley. Once we got moving I saw this old woman across the aisle cleaning out her nose with a Q-tip. That is just gross and just thinking about it is making me come close to gagging so I will move on. While looking out the window I saw a guy with some awesome dreads. I have a confession to make. I have secretly wanted to get dreads for the passed couple years. I wish that he had been on the trolley so I could ask him where he got them done.

For the way home I actually found a seat when I first boarded. It was quite shocking. The woman that I had sat across from was friendly. We didn't talk since I had my head phones on but she nodded and smiled to me when I sat down. I really liked the way she did her make up. It was classy with nice colors and not over the top. She was smiling to herself as if she kept a funny but well guarded secret. A man sat down next to her and talked obnoxiously loud on his cell phone. I looked at him since I could hear him above my music and when I looked at her we both looked at each other as though we had the same thought. We both smiled and looked away to keep ourselves from laughing. The obnoxious man was wearing a backwards hat and a small tuft of hair was sticking out of the front. When I looked at it again I realized that it was alone on his head. His hat was back far enough that I could see he was almost fully bald. He got off one stop before I did. I met my parents for lunch so I got off before Old Town.

Well that was my day so I will report back after my next ride.

Alana

Blast From the Past

Like I promised here are a few days that I had not yet posted from last month.

On a Monday....

My brothers voice was pretty much dead so I didn't have much conversation on the way to school. I instead spent my time people watching. Everybody was quiet and kept to themselves like almost every day. One man was replacing the batteries in his walkie talkie while others were reading through books. Some were text book and some weren't, some people were underlining words and phrases while other people were highlighting. There was one woman with two children. She was wearing a tight white shirt and purple stretchy pants. She was not a large woman but the tight clothes did nothing for her. She really looked like perhaps she was running into financial troubles. One child was sitting next to her, asking her questions, and the other one was sitting in the seat in front of her excitedly looking out the window. As the child next to her continued to ask her questions she told him to hush and threatened to smack him if he did not hush. He was quiet until she told both children that she was getting rid of some of their toys which made them both whine and complain. She started to explain to them why but I politely tried to focus on something else since it was none of my business. I arrived at my stop in what seemed like no time at all.

On my way home a man who sat across me had nice looking brown shoes. They looked like they probably went with most of his clothes and I knew that he wore them a lot since the toes of both shoes were scuffed in different designs to that almost sand colored beige. They were nice shoes so I couldn't blame the use of them.


On a Tuesday...

This morning I barely made the trolley. I was able to pay for the ticket right before it got there which was great since I didn't want to have to wait 15 minutes for the next one to arrive. The ride was pretty uneventful but I did see a woman brave enough to put mascara on while the trolley was moving. It makes me wonder if she had ever accidentally poked herself in the eye.

When I transferred at Old Town there was a man standing about five feet away from me looking in my direction. His mouth was moving as he was talking. I thought he was talking to me but then he turned and I saw his Blue tooth. I nodded and almost laughed as I thought about how funny it would have been if I had asked him to repeat himself. I only hope that if he hadn't turned and I took off my headphones that I would have noticed he was talking on the phone or at least not to me. There was a trolley cop on the trolley who asked for tickets. I was able to get the ticket out easier this time but it may have been because I was sitting.

I was almost alone on the trolley car at one point. The emptiness surprised me but I didn't get much time to enjoy it since I had to get off.

On my way home an old tan man sat across from me and he was wearing a leather jacket, blue jeans, and brown boots. He smelled like the inside of a pumpkin when it is scooped out to make a jack-o-lantern at Halloween. There were two things that I really noticed about him. 1. he was wearing three different cross necklaces that were very different from each other and 2. his fingertips looked swollen like he had done a job for years that abused them. Based on his tan that wouldn't have surprised me.

When I transferred to Old Town a woman with the biggest pack I have ever seen got on the trolley. Any time she turned she would knock into somebody and when she turned to apologize she would hit somebody else. She continued to turn unable to stop the chain of events that was taking place. I tried really hard not to laugh at the comical situation since although she was being nice, the people being smacked probably didn't find it as amusing. She was finally able to settle down without smacking more people.

A poem...

This poem was written on a beautiful day while I was on the trolley. It has nothing to do with the trolley but since I composed it along the ride I decided that I should share. The poem was just from the other day and not quite last month.

Low, fast moving clouds swimming
In a light blue ocean called Sky.
The clouds making shadows on the ground
Where the children play and frolic
Enjoying both the sun and shade
Giggling at their fun and games.
Birds flying high in the sky, fly high
Above the low swimming clouds
And the wind sweeps through the green trees.
Cars drive down the busy streets
Filled with people in a hurry
Eager to be at their destinations.
The tall, shiny buildings stand
Defiantly over the trees
And anything standing nearby.
The sparkling deep blue water of the ocean
Laps at the shore, inviting and beautiful.
The wind makes the tall palms
Bow slightly to any walking that way.
As the cheerful children frolic
And the adults go along their way
And the wind plays in the trees
It is a beautiful day.

I hope you enjoyed the lost entries,
Alana

Dazed and Confused

This morning on the trolley after we left downtown the driver announced that there would be a ticket inspection and sure enough as soon as we stopped trolley cops were at all the doors. They came on and said good morning please get out your tickets. People didn't even have the opportunity to get off so if they didn't have a ticket then that sucks for them. My brother and I took out our passes and when I looked around I was surprised by all the people that also had passes instead of tickets. Since I was studying I wasn't able to observe much more than that.

When I was waiting for the trolley so I could go home it was very blustery outside. It was worse because that stop is a wind tunnel. It was windy but an older man had managed to find a spot where the wind barely hit him. He was standing there with a short open box and he was begging for money. He did not say anything, he just watched as people walked by not even seeing him. Although I didn't have any cash to give him I think it was a smart place for him to stand. A large number of people walk through there so there are bound to be charitable people with cash.

I boarded the trolley and on my way home I noticed that there was a large number of people in wheel chairs boarding the trolley. They were occasionally getting off but more boarded in their place. At one point four people in wheel chairs were crammed into the small area where the ramp is. It looked quite cramped and uncomfortable. I heaved a sigh of relief for them when we arrived at Old Town to transfer.

There was a shocker at Old Town. The trolley was not there when I got there! *gasp* I knew I spoke too soon in my other entry haha. I thankfully did not have to wait long for one to arrive. Once on there I saw a younger Guy do something very nice. He had managed to get on the trolley early and snagged my favorite seat. I found a different seat but an old man was not so lucky. Just as I noticed that the old man was looking for a seat the young guy got up and offered his seat to the old man. I was surprised to see it happen since I hardly ever see it happen anymore.

It took forever for the trolley to leave Old Town and at first I feared that it was going to wait for another trolley to arrive. Thankfully it left before the next trolley came.

At the next stop a man who looked dazed and confused sat next to me. I had to push myself close to the wall since he almost sat on me. His movements were slow and he smelled like stale air. He got off on the next stop. After that not very many people were getting on this car but many people were leaving. It seemed like no time at all for me to arrive home.

I leave you until next time.
Alana

The Mystery of a Bag

My morning on the trolley was uneventful but was probably because I found myself reading. I was playing catch up on my reading for my first today. On my way home from my first class I took out my head phones and the man sitting across from me smiled approvingly at them. I found him smiling at me on more than one occasion probably because I was thoroughly enjoying my music. When I transferred I happened to see a man on the trolley I had noted before in a previous entry. Now that I think about it I may still need to post it haha well when you read the other entry this will make more sense. The man was still with his bike but no video game. He appeared to be doing homework or studying. He had a rubber band around his wrist which had a key and key ring on it. It made me wonder if he frequently loses it.


On my way to my second class people were jamming themselves close together and I noticed something. Earlier my friend asked me why society is becoming so anti-social on places like the trolley. I noticed that although people we jammed close together in their quest to sit down, only people who boarded together were talking to each other. Everybody else was silent and kept to themselves. It makes me wonder what is going on in their minds to make them keep to themselves. While I waited for the trolley to arrive so I could go home I talked with one of my classmates about the interesting people a person can meet. In the middle of my thought a man approached us and said that he was raising money so he could eat before midnight. He was tall and skinny wearing shorts while it's cold out. He had a very large pack on his back that looked like it might have weighed more than him. He was also holding a small empty Ziploc bag that had a fine white powder covering all of the inside of it. I will not make a judgment of what could have possibly been the previous inhabitant of the bag because the imagination tends to weave tales. When my classmate and I told him we didn't have any cash to give him he thanked us and went on his way.

I was finally able to get on and a few stops later swomething startling happened. The trolley was going along and suddenly it lurched and was making quite a jerky motion. I looked out the window and I saw bright flashes of light coming from right above the car. Soon after the lurching started it stopped and we were able to continue and everything was fine. I have no idea what happened but it seemed to be fin after that. Then a few stops later the driver came out of his driver's box and was messing around with one of the doors. I couldn't see what he was doing exactly but I think he was adjusting something. It was very peculiar.

When I transferred I found the next trolley at the stop already and half-filled with people. I was able to find a seat right away. I always seem to get lucky when that happens and soon after I arrive I always manage to get on before it leaves. *knocks on wood* I hope to keep it that way. The trolley was very full by the time we left Old Town. There was a lot of people standing and the amount of people on the car made it noisy. I was glad to get off and arrive at home. Tomorrow I plan to post my poem and previous entries I have but have not posted.

Until tomorrow,
Alana

Little house on the prairie in the big city?

Today is one of those gorgeous days where it would be nice to sit under the shade of a tree and enjoy the gentle breeze making its way through the leaves. Of course I'm not sitting under a tree, I am on the trolley which is full just like every day.

This morning on my way to school I saw something odd. Three people, two women and one man, were walking next to the Trolley. That itself is not weird but the way they were dressed reminded me of Amish garb. The women were wearing floral print dresses so that was different but their hair was up and under a white bonnet. I can't remember what the man was wearing but it was so odd to see that in a place like San Diego. It also reminded me of little house on the prairie haha. I also rode on one of the newer trolley cars and I was surprised to find out exactly how much less a person will be bounced around.

On the way home it was packed when I first got like it always is. As soon as we get to Civic Center it seems like half of the people get off and that is when I can sit down. It was nice to sit down. When I transferred I wasn't surprised to see it there but I was surprised to see it already full. I was lucky enough to snag a seat which was unfortunately right under one of the speakers. I wrote a poem last week while I was on the trolley which I will probably post on here later. Besides the interesting people I saw this morning it was uneventful.

Until a later ride,
Alana