Battle with the Bus Driver
Over the past year and a half or so, a certain campus bus driver has developed an intense hatred of me and my mere existence. I am not sure what I did or said to merit such extreme dislike; perhaps I “thank you” one too many times, or maybe I breathe too loudly. Whatever my offense may be, this bus driver has made it a personal mission to make my life as miserable as she possibly can. When I ring the bell for the bus to stop, she pretends that she “didn’t notice.” When she sees me approach the bus from a few yards away, she makes sure to step on the gas so that I miss the bus and must wait for the next one. When I am ready and waiting at the bus stop, she barely slows so that I can board the bus, before she accelerates with such force that I end up in someone’s lap. Today, however, our battle reached a new level.
On my way over to East Campus, it somehow happened that I was the only passenger remaining on the bus. The disgruntled she-devil of transportation decides to stop the bus—and park it. She turns around, and I think she is glaring at me—it’s hard to tell through her reflective sunglasses. Then, she begins to pick her teeth, with her long, plastic pink nails; just moments earlier she had been driving one-handed so that she could eat her greasy chicken wings. So, this death stare contest continues for a few moments until she decides to tidy up the bus, all the while the clock is ticking as my tutoring appointment time grows nearer. At last she restarts the bus, and takes me to my destination. But before letting me depart, she looks me in the eye and says, “I get off at fo’. You hear me? I get off at fo’.” It was 3:55 PM. Apparently, she wanted to inform me that I wouldn’t have to deal with her sass again today. Although I genuinely wanted to slap her across the face, instead, I decided to kill her with kindness and shouted “thank you!” with glee and hopped off the bus.
I contemplated reporting her but decided I don’t want to escalate the battle even further; I am quite possibly the most drama-averse person you will ever meet. Have you ever experienced any conflict like this with a stranger? How did you handle it?
Aside from the aforementioned feud, I did have some bright spots in my day, including my customary trip to Whole Foods and scrambled tofu. Check it out:
Sunday
Come Sunday night, my frozen fruit supply is usually pretty pitiful. Hence, a hodge-podge smoothie.
Monday
Given my enthusiasm for the berry mango bran muffins from Trader Joe’s, I was quite excited to give another variety a taste. This morning, I tried out the cranberry-orange flavor in a muffin parfait. Glorious!
It’s Monday. That means one thing: hummus for lunch. Before heading out to a tutoring appointment, I whipped up a batch of my spicy spinach version.
As part of my duties for the dining committee, I’ve been lobbying for more vegan options around campus. My favorite on-campus eatery, The Refectory, has been nice enough to try some new vegan recipes this week, and today’s dish was a tofu bake (aka scrambled tofu). I picked some up this afternoon and stuck in the fridge for dinner tonight, and I ended up eating it chilled on a salad. It was amazing—slightly spicy, and not too oily. Although it doesn’t have the Asian flair that my my own scrambled tofu recipe has, it was quite enjoyable, and I can see myself ordering it again and again. Now, I just need to get my classmates to agree so that it stays on the menu!
Alright, I am off to pretend to do research while I watch Little People, Big World. Good night.
Filed under: Meals
Hello and welcome! I have created this blog for people who love food, especially healthful, vegetarian food.
I currently attend college in North Carolina, where I am studying English and psychology, although I plan on pursuing an additional degree in nutrition after I graduate. Ideally, I would like to combine my love of food and the written word someday as a health writer.
REPORT THE BITCH!
You did NOT deserve to be treated that way – I say, report her.
Jeez bus driver!
Someone obviously forgot to eat her morning broccoli.
Broccoli gives you endorphins… endorphins make you happy. Happy peoplejust don’t shoot their husbands. They just don’t.
Ok, I may or may not have messed up the words
OMG, what a nasty biatch!! Maybe you should burst into tears in front of her one day and see what she says.. Gosh, some people are on a mission to make someone’s life miserable.
By the way, I remembered you posted a bran muffin recipe a while ago but it’s not in your recipe file. Could you by any chance post it up again? Thanks
Hope your day gets better!
WOW! What a bus driver! Absolutely report her ass, how dare she?
So sorry about the bus driver. Yikes. Sadly I have weird stuff (rude stuff) happen like that and I think the kill em w/ kindness approach is best b/c all they want is a reaction, ya know!
I just got back into town and clicked on Google Reader (obvi) even though I am falling asleep standing. BUT I FELT COMPELLED TO COMMENT….
BROC YOU MUST REPORT HER!! Oh my!!! What the heck!? I would have totally cussed her out. I mean….run away in fear of getting shot and never taking the bus ever again.
REPORT HER!!!
that is horrible about the bus driver! im so sorry..thats so sad people have to act like that
your salads look AMAZING!
Unfortunately the only people that hate me for no reason are my in-laws
I agree, report her!!!
your magical duo of spicy green hummus, on that tomato, looks deelightful
haha, what a crazy bus driver. I would totally report her. how irriating!!
I certainly agree. What the hell?! But you did the right thing. You just smiled, and even said thank you! You’re amazing!!! I would have smashed her bitchy head with my heaviest textbook. But you did the BEST action: KILL her with kindness!!! Go caroline!
Report her ASAP!
WOW that is nuts. I think some people are just miserable and want to make everyone else miserable too? No idea. Glad you killed her with kindness
Your lunch plate looks awesome. I want to bring something like this to our work lunch tomorrow.
my strategy to deal with strangers that seems to hate me is to gain their compassion, be kinder than I actually am! it works 99% of the time!
If you have to deal with her on a daily basis I would definitely report her! Today. Don’t wait.
Spicy spinach hummus sounds right up my alley!
What a moron… I actually have a somewhat similar situation with one of the maintenance guys in my office building. I don’t know what I ever did to him to make him hate me so much, but… yeah. I’d love to hear about how you resolve this!!
<3 <3
What a horrible sounding bus driver! I agree – you should tell someone about her – if she is that rude to you, she is probably doing it to other students as well.
What a jerk bus driver!!! You definitely handled it the best way though. Being nice throws people off
HAHAHA thats hilarious dude. Like wtf does the bus driver hate you! That biotch is just jealous of your stellariocity. Yep I just made that word up.
look at you gettin all those vegan recipes up in the cafetera girl! work it. I hope it works out
That bus driver is not cool — what a bully!
You’re right, kill her with kindness. There is no better way
Luuuuurve tofu scrambles!
I kill people with kindness too. It doesn’t solve the problem, but it’s fun watching their reaction when their trying their hardest to get a rise out of you and you don’t give in
I admire you for being so patient! I think the best thing to do is what you’re already doing. The advice I would give myself would be to try to make her my best friend! I’ve heard about other people making their enemies into their friends. Keep us updated! I want to know what happens!
I would def report her- i doubt they will mention your name, or if you are worried make an anonymous report?
Yikes. I am horrible in situations like that. I usually just clam up and get really uncomfortable. You had a good response though! I was actually in Trader Joe’s today which was a nut house and there was a sweet woman trying to get her baby stroller by. She waited for about 5 people to go by and then quietly asked an elderly woman if she could scoot by. The elderly woman shouted at her and asked “Don’t you have any respect for the elderly?” (in a really nasty way). I ALMOST said something in the woman’s defense but I didn’t want to get involved. The old lady was on a rampage!
Oh man, that is a hard situation to deal with, especially being that you have no idea what started the bus driver behavior towards you.
I like your attitude of kindness, it most certainly made her mad!
But if this continues, or gets worse, then you should definitely report her. No one deserves to be treated that way, even more so without any apparent reasons. I never understand how people judge or mistreat others without knowing them, it is such a bad thing, and unfortunately happens so often…
Love your food!
Had hummus today for lunch and though about your lunches as I ate mine! Oh, and from seeing it frequently in your blog I decided to try almond butter, omg, it is amazingly good! I loved it!
I bought two of those squeeze packs, ate one yesterday and one today, so freaking delicious that thing is. Must buy a jar soon!
Ana
Ick. That woman sounds like she hates the world. I think your “kill with kindness” method is a good one. I find it hard for people to be mean to me when I am super nice to them. Eventually they break.
Your salad looks so good! I would eat that if I were one of your classmates!
A) I would report the bus driver. It’s one thing to be a bit snarky, but she’s just not completing her job properly. And it’s not like she’s only been this way once. I think it’s unacceptable.
B) You need to come to our school – we have lots of vegetarian and vegan options on campus, plus lots of organic and local products. I’m actually quite impressed by it.