So. You see. I had maybe the strangest moment of my life today. As a student at the U of M I am experienced with public transportation, really I'm a connoisseur. Between my daily rides on the good old Campus Connector, my weekend adventures on the City Bus, and my late night cab ride extravaganzas, I've encountered about every sort of person ever to exist. Well that was until today anyway. We Minnesotans, though well accustomed to the brutal weather, prefer to find any way possible to limit our exposure to the great outdoors, hence the elaborate tunnel system, indoor bridge, and university bus system.

As I was awaiting the arrival of my beloved bus I was standing in the doorway to the west bank. Let me remind you, I was minding my own business and probably staring off into oblivion or someplace near it. To my left a little Asian woman walks in and smiles as she passes me. I, being my smiling self, return the expression. Moments later, after I had returned to oblivion, I feel someone tap me on my shoulder. I whipped around with a great deal of anticipation, because at a university of 50,000 students it is exciting to run into someone you know. Before I even get a chance to register the face, I hear "Do you know why some people are so stuck up?" I had no reply..."Because they spend so much time looking down". The uhh joke was followed by hysterical, devil like laughter. After I had gotten over the initial experience I realized it was the little Asian woman. I soon boarded the bus only to be affronted by another unusual experience.

I took a seat near the front of the bus, secured my belongings, and turned on my discman. I was altogether prepared for another lovely 30 minute trek to my home on the other side of campus. Apparently while I was settling in a wee little old man sat down next to me. It is important to understand that the bus is a quiet place. People rarely talk or interact with one another in any way. Well that's until the wee little old man shoved a book in my face and began wildly pointing at it. He was saying something too, but with the headphones on I couldn't quite understand. I was faced with a dilemma. Ignore the man or humor him. Removing my headphones was the first mistake. He proceeded to scoot closer, as if we weren't already close enough. He began to rant and rave about the apocalypse. I looked for help in all directions but no one had anything for me but smirks. I was panicking, I didn't really care too much about the apocalypse or the threat of asteroids, mostly because I am quite the accomplished astronomy student and am very familiar with the actual chance of being hit by an asteroid sizable enough to cause extinction. I just wanted him to get off the bus.

fortunately the bus was getting crowded the further it moved along its route. Some sucker thankfully took the seat that separating me from Mr. Doomsday. I put my headphones back on and kept to minding my own business while Mr. Doomsday educated his new neighbor.

Moral: avoid public transportation and all places related to it, i.e. bus stops.

For those of you living in the Minneapolis area, don't worry...you're safe until the Metro Transit strike ends.