Life Goes On Aboard Bus From Valley

It clearly was a conversation that had started last week.

“They get the lead out of your foot?” the enormous bus driver in sunglasses asked as a smiling woman with blond hair stepped aboard the U-City Limited Monday morning at the STA’s Valley Transit Center.

Yes, she reported. They had.

“Festering is no fun,” she added, summing up her experience of discovering that she had somehow stepped on a sliver of metal.

“I stepped on a nail once,” offered another passenger. “Went right in.”

The woman with blond hair decided to change the subject. She returned her attention to the driver.

“I’m late for work again,” she said. “I’m going to blame it on you.”

“I can handle it,” he replied.

Another woman talked about how she hadn’t been able to fall asleep the night before. One teenage couple kissed a couple of times and then talked softly. Others got on, found a seat and immediately opened paperbacks.

At 7:51, the driver cranked on the engine. It rumbled and then settled into a drone. It was time to head downtown and face another Monday.

A woman on her way to a sociology class at Eastern Washington University glanced up and then returned her gaze to some notes.

By the time the bus pulled onto Interstate 90, there were some 40 riders.

“We live out in the Valley,” announced a little boy.

“Yes, we live out in the Valley,” said the man sitting next to him.

The man gave the kid the IN Life section from the Monday paper.

The boy studied it, looking just like a grown-up commuter - except for holding the paper upside down.

At 8:05, rush-hour traffic down below on the interstate made a good case for riding the bus.

Off to the west, past the loaf-on-a-pole Snyder’s bread sign, downtown beckoned in the distance.

The murmur of scattered conversations blended with the click-click-click of the turn signal.

Once downtown, the woman with blond hair got off on Lincoln. She walked without a limp. “Have a good day,” said a seatmate.

“Where’s she going?” asked the little boy.

“Probably to work somewhere,” said the man next to him.

Out on the sidewalk, the woman waved to the driver as the U-City Limited eased into traffic.

He waved back. , DataTimes MEMO: Being There is a weekly feature that visits gatherings in the Inland Northwest.