Fall 2022

This was a tweet I sent to the public transportation system in the city where we live. At the time, Irish (my husband) and I were well into the hell of our housing search and hopelessness was starting to get a pretty good foothold in our spirits.

Interesting thing happened this morning.  Our bus driver told every passenger, “Have a good day,” as they exited the bus.  Every passenger EXCEPT my husband and me.  As we passed by her and told her, “Thank you,” she just grunted and gave us the side-eye.

Why? We suspect it’s because we boarded with a suitcase and a dog, and we exited the bus near Oldtown.  I work in a dog-friendly co-working space in that part of [city name] and I need a suitcase to bring all the equipment and materials I use to do my job.

But to your driver, we must have looked like the kind of people who don’t deserve to have a good day.  If anyone deserves to be wished a good day, it’s someone who’s homeless on a cold, rainy day in [city name].

The company never responded.

To be fair, most of the bus drivers we’ve encountered have been great. The ones we rode with regularly often struck up conversations and asked about our dog if he wasn’t with us. A few even let us ride for free a time or two just because they knew it would help us out.

Fortunately, this incident was an exception and not the rule. But you never know how even a small act of cruelty can hurt someone who already feels defeated in life.