Mornings in the bus

Morning in the bus on the way to work, Monday.
Behind me, two high school girls in uniforms, conversing.

‘So you went Saturday’.
‘Yep’.
‘How was it?’
‘Ummmm…..’
‘Well?’
‘Okay I guess. F@*&$ boring. Gay’.
‘Was he there?’
‘Yep’.
‘What about her, was she there too?’
‘She was, the f@*&$ bitch.’
‘You’re kidding me, right?’
‘F@*&$ no’.
‘Wha’ did you do?’
‘Nothin’.’
‘Did you talk to him?’
‘A bit.’
‘Wha’ did ‘e say?’
‘Not f@*&$ much.’
‘Did you talk to ‘er?’
‘A little.’
‘Wha’ did she say?’
‘The f@*&$ knows. Some crap.’
‘Did ‘e saw you talking to ‘er?’
‘You bet your ass he did.’
‘What did he say?’
‘Nothin’.’
‘Did you stay long?’
‘Nope.’
‘How late?’
‘I dunno, 2 or 3 maybe.’
‘Did you get drunk?’
‘Nah, John’s f@*&$ parents were home.’
‘You’re kidding me, right?’
‘Nope.’
‘Are you gonna go to Mad Dog’s Friday?’
‘I guess.’
‘Is he gonna go too?’
‘I hope so.’
‘Wha’ about her?’
‘The f@*&$ knows. Hope not.’
‘You are sooo lucky. My stupid f@*&$ parents never lemme go anywhere.’
‘ I know. You poor thing.’
‘You’re always having so much fun. I hate my f@*&$ life!’
‘I know.’
.............................................................................

Morning in the bus on the way to work, Tuesday.
Two young women in business suits, with key cards hanging by the belts, seated opposite to me.

‘You had a sickie yesterday?’
‘Yep.’
‘Feeling better?’
‘Oh, yeah.’
‘How was your weekend?’
‘All right, I guess.’
‘Did you go to Greg’s bash Friday?’
‘I sure did.’
‘How was it?’
‘Not too bad.’
‘Who was there?’
‘Everyone. You should have come.’
‘I couldn’t. We’re f@*&$ broke.’
‘Nobody brought much, you should have told me to lend you a couple of bucks.’
‘Nah, Phil doesn’t like that. He’s funny when it comes to this sort of thing. Did you have fun?’
‘Not as much as I hoped to.’
‘What happened?’
‘Josh was there.’
‘You’re f@*&$ kidding me, right?’
‘Nope.’
‘Was he alone?’
‘No, he was not.’
‘Who was he with?’
‘Some f@*&$ slut.’
‘Do I know her?’
‘You might. She works in accounting on the third floor.’
‘Lisa?’
‘Nope’.
‘Jane.’
‘No, not Jane. She’s back with her ex now.’
‘Mariah?’
‘Are you nuts? Mariah got married a month ago.’
‘Then who?’
‘The new one, the red head.’
‘Shut up! Get outtahere! She seems sooo f@*&$ conservative, makes me wanna puke.’
‘Well, she makes me wanna puke too, but lemme tell you, she’no conservative at all.’
‘You’re f@*&$ kidding me! Some people! I thought she was f@*&$ Virgin Mary. Did you talk to them? ’
‘A bit.’
‘What about?’
‘You know, the usual crap.’
‘ Did you get drunk then?’
‘Yep. Later. After they left.’
‘Oh, you poor thing…So that’s why you didn’t come to work yesterday.’
Deep sigh.
‘Oh, dear, oh dear. What are you gonna do now?’
‘Wha’do you mean?’
‘Well, with Jane’s barbecue coming up and all…Do you think they’ll be invited?’
‘Maybe. I hope not, though. The f@*&$ knows. Perhaps I should not go to that one.’
‘Don’t be silly! You should bring someone hot with you. F@*&$ show them you don’t care.’
‘I should, shouldn’t I.’
‘Of course. Otherwise the party was okay?’
‘You could say that.’
‘Good food?’
‘Yep.’
‘Well, I’m glad to hear that at least you got sloshed. That’s not bad when you wanna cope with somethin’ like this. At least you had some fun.
Phil is driving me f@*&$ insane these days. He doesn’t wanna go anywhere any more. He always finds f@*&$ excuses.
I envy you. At least you are free to do what you want to do.’
‘I guess I am. True. You poor thing, I feel for you.’