Taking Bus 110 down Peachtree Avenue

I am not a shopper but yesterday I took the MARTA train to Lenox Square, a very large mall with all the usual stores, but also a huge Macy's, Bloomingdales, and even a Neiman Marcus.  I didn't spend long there but instead headed down Peachtree Avenue for the Buckhead Shops, supposedly Atlanta's "Rodeo Drive."  It was a long walk past elegant office buildings, but also strip malls with mattress shops and nail salons.  My reward was finding a Trader Joe's where I purchased three of my very favorite milk chocolate truffle bars--at $1.99 each.  This is why we need a Trader Joe's in South Bend!

The Buckhead Shops area was very upscale with Jimmy Choo, Hermes,  and other such establishments.  There were many empty slots with signs "Coming in 2016" etc.  I was tired and my iPhone app said I had walked well over 8000 steps.  The nearest MARTA train station was back where I started.  I asked two security guards about taking a bus downtown and they were very helpful although they thought I really should download the Uber app and try that.

I waited quite a while for the bus.  When it finally arrived,  for some strange reason my empty MARTA card got me on free.  That was the start of my bus adventure.  A gentleman on crutches eased himself into the seat in front of me.  At one point, he asked when Thanksgiving would be.  Another person replied, "Thursday."  There was some questioning of this and I joined in affirming that it would be Thursday, refraining from saying, "It's always on a Thursday,"

Another gentleman with no legs boarded on a wheelchair.    The bus driver was very  helpful in getting him situated.  After about four or five stops, this rider asked when we would get to Shepherd's Place.  I knew we had passed it before he got on the bus.  This was a problem!  He could get off and head the other way or he could, as a voice from the back of the bus suggested, stay on to the end and turn around.  He chose to get off, was lowered to the pavement and crossed the busy avenue in his motorized chair.  I hope he found Shepherd's Place eventually.

Then there was the cell phone drama going on in the back of the bus.  A rather voluptuous young woman  never stopped talking while she tapped her MARTA card as she boarded the bus.  She was obviously talking to young children with lots of "I love yous" and "I'll see you tomorrow."  Her next conversation was not so sweet.  She was recounting her problems with her supervisor at work and the email she didn't get changing her hours and how she had just gotten her children back and she can't work those hours and she doesn't want to lose them again.  Her voice got louder and louder as she talked to her friend.  Eventually the driver asked her to lower her voice.  I hoped she wouldn't lower it too much because it was quite the soap opera going on.  I did feel a little strange as the only white person on the bus when she was exaggeratingly imitating the HR person, "this white lady," who may have been putting her on probation.

It was a slow ride, but a glimpse of life for me of those who take busses all the time.