*****
Bittersweet
On the Corner of Perry Street
It was no given time, year or day that the following events took place. They could have happened anywhere, at anytime. The town that lied from whence they came was called Defeated and the town they were going to was called Difficult. The small town of Defeated had only one bus stop outside of town that sat along a narrow, crooked road leading to Difficult. Many people traveled the road. Some left and never came back, while others came back for a short stay. Some never left, they died there in Defeated. There were those who also died in Difficult because they gave up. People came to the bus stop everyday to catch the bus. They were all different kinds of people from all walks of life who were all doing things that could make a difference. Now, let me introduce you to the people at Bus Stop Station 550.
There came a man one day who was a liar. He lived his whole life lying to get what he wanted. What he didn’t lie about, he stole. No one could ever believe him. He was caught several times and went on his way.
There was the fisherman with his crooked hook. According to him, the big one always got away. He came to the bus stop all alone with his cane-pole, a box of worms and of course the crooked hook. He sat on the bench at the bus stop and practiced fishing by dropping his hook down in the storm drain beside the road. But, lo and behold, along came the bus; it ran over his cane-pole, broke it and kept on going. Now, that was the big one that got away.
There also came the woman who had sung all her life. She came alone to the bus stop; well except for her dead canary in the shoebox that she carried everywhere she went. She started singing in the church choir; then moved on to smoke filled bars and honky-tonks. No one knew if she could she still carry a tune or if she still had an unsung song still in her heart. Her greatest ambition in life was to have a song on the jukebox for others to enjoy. Do you have a quarter? The bus pulled up at the bus stop. As she started to get on, the bus driver asked her what she had in the box. She told him her canary; he said, “Sorry no pets allowed.”
Life sometimes is like sitting at a red-light with it pouring down rain on one side of the red-light and dry as a bone on the other. The person in the car across from you has their wipers cutting a shine. Can you figure that? Who then can draw the line?
It was a typical day at the bus stop; people came and went. It was a beautiful clear sunny day and every single person had a different expression on their face. But, they were all serious looks. Some appeared to be experiencing a touch of joy, while a few toted a sly smile. There were many, some young and some old. Everyone around came to the corner of Perry Street with all sorts of mannerisms. On any given day there would be someone sitting at the bus stop on the corner going from here to there.
And there came a man with a hole in his sock who thought he had it hidden so no one could see it. But as he walked, you could see it as his shoe flopped up and down on his heels. Not only were his shoes too big, they also wore holes in his socks. There were those who saw it and those who paid it no never mind. Should he buy a smaller shoe or not wear any socks? Is there a hole in the toe of his sock? There is no way to know unless he takes his shoe off, but then his feet may stink. What about the woman with the run in her stocking who fixed it by painting the end of the run with fingernail polish?
A soldier came along in a wheelchair and rolled up beside the bench. As he stretched his arms, he closed his eyes, leaned back for a moment and saw a vision of killing and torture of the young and old. He smelled death; he heard cannons, gunshots and bombs explode. As tears beaded about his eyes, a light broke to an overcast sky and the warmth of the light dried up his tearful eyes.
But, what about the man with the crooked leg that walked a crooked mile? Or, what about the man with weathered hands that stopped to pray?
There came a blind man with his dog in one hand and a tennis racket and a ball in the other; go figure that.
A gambler came by to catch the bus; he had been unlucky all his life. He tried to win, but always failed because he was always one number short. In his pockets were cards, dice, lottery tickets and a rabbit’s foot. As he sat that day waiting for the bus, he couldn’t help but notice a small patch of clover at the end of the bench. He sat there a moment and looked it over and that’s when he saw a four-leaf clover; he picked it and began to feel lucky immediately. About that time, a stir of wind blew up a lottery ticket; it landed right by his feet. It was still good because it was for the evening drawing. Some passerby must have dropped it. He didn’t know who it belonged to. Counting the odds against him, he laid the ticket back down. But, just out of curiosity he wrote the numbers down. About that time, the wind stirred again and blew the ticket on. The bus pulled up, the gambler got on and left. That night as he watched TV, the lotto came on and the winning numbers of 5, 18, 27, 32, 48 and 50 were drawn. The gambler looked at the numbers he had written down from the ticket he had found on the ground. The numbers were 5, 18, 27, 32, 48 and 50; he dropped his head and cried.
Life is like a carnival with all its ups, downs, twists and turns in its game. Liken unto a child that came that day eating cotton candy and holding a balloon in her hand. There’s the thrill of the roller coaster that dodges this way and that with its high climbs that fall into its lows. Take the Ferris wheel that slowly turns. From the top you can see for miles. But, when you stop at the top and begin to look around as the chair begins to rock causing your heart and thoughts to race, creating a touch of fear. At that moment everything is out of your hands and you have to put your trust in another to get back down.
There never is a dull moment around the bus stop. A lot of people from all walks of life come and go. It is a great part of the lifeline of Defeated and Difficult. Each has their own little part to play; that’s what makes the world go around.
There are two ladies of the night that came and stood around the bus stop. These working girls would stay until sunrise the next morning looking for customers from town. They really didn’t have much to say except for hi there, what’s going on and are you looking for a good time. The names of the two girls were Rosy and Starr; they were friends. They worked together to find Johns until the morning light.
Bus Stop Station 550 had it all. There was the lost child, a nurse, a coach and a little boy with his bat and glove that came with a grumpy old man, newlyweds and a bartender who all had a story to tell. Some looked back and others looked straight on. Life is like a writer with a broken pencil lead, a guitar with no strings, a singer without a song and an artist with no paint. Expressions can be good or bad. It’s not what you bring into this world it’s what you leave behind.
There was the farmer with a basket of vegetables headed for the market. He was hot and sweaty; his clothes were soiled with dirt and his shoes were covered with mud. He was proud of his labor and his finished work. He had an outstanding garden. It received the right amount of rain and sunlight he could wish for. But, as he stopped at the bus stop, he happened to look down into his basket and saw a worm crawling out of one of his tomatoes and one in the shuck of his corn. He was so disappointed.
There came an easy rider that rode up on a chopper. He got caught by the red-light and had to stop in front of the bus stop and wait for the light to change. He had only one thing to say when it changed. He flipped his finger at them all and drove away. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a finger says it all.
And it so happened, there came a waitress who had worked all of her life serving others. She worked so much that she never had time for herself, except for short breaks and random moments. But, she loved her job although she didn’t make much money; she depended on her tips to get by. The waitress didn’t take for granted her services of those she served. Her customers thought so much of her that they set aside a day and called it ‘Susie’s Day.’ They all waited on her and served her to let her know how much they appreciated her. “Don??
?t forget the tip,” she said as she laughed.
What about the climber who always had one more hill to climb? He would climb halfway up and look back toward Defeated, then climb a little higher and look up toward Difficult.
“Is there no rest on the corner of Perry Street?” asked the policeman that stopped to arrest a drunk lying on the bus stop bench. A fireman who stood nearby flushing out a fire hydrant replied, “It has been busy, I think.” The policeman looked down at the drunk’s feet. He said, “He has his shoes on the wrong feet. Could that have made him stumble and fall or did he have too much to drink?”
Night fell once again over Bus Stop Station 550; Rosy and Starr were back again to work the corner of Perry Street. As the cars passed, they waved and yelled at the ones who were stopped by the red-light and had to wait for it to change. They looked over into the cars with encouraging words until the police came by and told them to move along.
When morning arose in the town of Defeated a bully came to the bus stop. He loved to fight and pick on others. But, he is old now and set in years. His brass knuckles are rusty, his knife blade is broken, he has a scar across his face and he wears an earring in one ear. He was covered from head to toe with tattoos of all kinds. His favorite was the one on his arm with his mama’s name written inside. His whole life he lived to make his point and see that everything went his way, whether it was right or wrong. He only saw the weakness in others; he never saw his own. The morale of the lesson is when the bully finally met his match, things changed and he saw life in a different light.
There came a hippie and a flower child one day to the corner of Perry Street. He had long hair down below his shoulders, a headband, a paisley shirt and blue jeans with holes. He carried a guitar in one hand and he raised his other hand to signal a peace sign and a love sign too. Along with him was the flower child with her tie-dyed shirt, a headband, a flower behind her ear, blue jeans with holes, sandals and beads. She carried a ‘Make Love Not War’ sign in one hand and she waved her other hand back and forth as she walked. The two sat on the bench; he sang and played the guitar. As the people came to catch the bus, he would look up, smile and say, “Hey man, what’s up?”
It was after the hippie and flower child came that a Rabi, Preacher and Priest came to the bus stop. The preacher sat in the middle, the priest on his left and the Rabi on his right. As the people came and as others passed by, the Rabi would say, “God loves you.” The priest would say, “The Lord loves you” and the preacher would say, “Jesus loves you.” The others said, “Amen.”
What about the little girl who came with the balloon tied to her wrist? The balloon flew high above her head and she was so proud. It bounced up and down as she walked. Then a most unusual thing happened; the balloon come untied and climbed high into the sky. As the string fell down about her, she started to cry. The others at the bus stop all watched the balloon as it disappeared into the clouds. They were all so taken away that they missed their bus.
A nosey reporter came by the bus stop. He snooped around and tried to get the scoop on the missing balloon. He was looking for the story of his life. He looked around but found nothing but a teacher and a drunk. She had graded papers and now she was reading a book. The drunk had passed out on the ground. His last words were, “Can someone stop the sky from spinning around.” The reporter never saw the balloon so he decided to leave. The teacher got on the bus and the bus drove off with the drunk passed out on the ground behind the bench.
There came along the next day an old man of age. His step was slow and he shuffled his feet when he walked. His legs were bowed out and his feet turned in. He carried himself with a smile and walked with a wooden cane. As he approached the bus stop, he looked from side to side. He carefully looked about everywhere to see if he could see anyone. He slowly moved closer to the bench and carefully sat down, still looking this way and that. With a sly cut of his eyes and a slight grin from ear to ear, he let a fart. He paused for a minute, looked about again, slowly got up and disappeared down the street. Within minutes an old woman came along. She had her handbag on one arm and a hat with a ribbon on her head. As she reached the bus stop, she sat down right where the old man had just gotten up. She was nearly out of breath; by taking deep breaths, she was able to settle down. She sat on the bench with a big smile. She started to look around because she wondered what on earth that smell was. She lifted her feet up and checked the bottom of her shoes. She smelled under her arms; she gagged and became sick at her stomach. She started feeling weak in her legs; her hands trembled and shook. She jumped up and cried out, “Damn, is there no mercy?” The odor was so overwhelming that she passed out onto the bench. In a few minutes, the police came by and saw her laying there. One cop turned to the other and asked, “What is that smell?” The other cop said, “Let’s take her in.” They arrested her for loitering and took her to jail. The next day in court, the judge fined her $100 dollars and gave her three days in jail.
Time soon passed and the pretty lady with the ruffled dress came by. A boyfriend who was on his way to dump his girlfriend, a businessman with his card, a sly lawyer who was itching to get a case and a young couple in love was all waiting for the bus. Also, I don’t want to forget the young man with the clackers whose arms were bruised black and blue.
Did you hear about the toothless man who hung around the bus stop? He used to have a lot to say. Everyone would gather around to hear his words and admire his smile. He was a good speaker with a lot of words in his vocabulary. But, when he lost his teeth and that adoring smile he was at a loss for words. People now just walked by him as if he wasn’t there. His face became as wrinkled as a prune and his mouth was sunk in. Time soon passed and he bought himself some false teeth. His smile was a bit better, but he had no words to speak.
Evening had come when a little boy with a one-eyed teddy bear came to the bus stop with his mother. As she sat on the bench and waited for the bus, the little boy played around the bench. He found a quarter in the tall grass. Well, it so happened when the bus pulled up, the mother counted her money to pay the bus fare. Guess what; she was a quarter short! So the little boy handed her the quarter he had found in the tall grass. They both got onto the bus and rode away. I wonder if the drunk dropped a quarter when he laid passed out behind the bench.
It was night again in Defeated and Difficult. The streetlights were back on and sirens sounded in the background. Time had passed; a lot of years had slipped away. Things were different now than they used to be. The old neighbors around Bus Stop Station 550 had slowly died or moved away. The new buses no longer used that route. Stop 550 had slowly gone down. Even the ladies of the night no longer worked there; they too had moved across town. However, Starr still found a John from time to time. Rosy was killed a few years ago so Starr worked alone now. A homeless man has taken over the bench and he sleeps there when the cops are not around. Defeated and Difficult still exist. All the others are still trying to catch a bus ride at a bus stop to somewhere out of town. Everything has moved to the other side of town now; you leave Defeated on your way to Depressed.