R: Essay On An Early Morning

Essay On An Early Morning

I was sitting in one of those ultra-modern waiting-for-the-bus kiosks
in a pouring rain. Three sides, paneled in cheap plastic, were opaque
with dew and heavy drops slid down leaving little runways, markers to
their demise on the cement floor. It was not particularly cold, in fact
it was one of those humid, mid-50's, so-called winter days. Drivers by
didn't know whether to turn on the heater at a low temperature or the
air conditioner. They did know, however, that all the windows of their
cars were fogged up.

The light at my corner cycled red and the early morning commuters
sloshily stopped. The passenger of a green Pinto placed her fingers at
the top of her cloudy window and pulled them down, as if scraping them
on a blackboard. I saw one eye peering through the slit created by the
first finger. As the Pinto pulled away, the fingers started on the far
side of the window, making a waffle design.

Shortly, a young couple sat down beside me on the bench. Their faces
revealed nothing. As if they had just been created; pulled out of the
oven and thrust into public and didn't know enough yet about smiles or
speech. Manners. I nodded to them. He stared for a moment, then turned
away. She didn't even look.

Well, shit.

As luck would have it, my new kiosk bunkmates' bus arrived first. They
rose, stepped up into the bus and sat near the front. Not bothering to
wipe away the crud on the window and bid me farewell. Newborns are like
that. Some call them assholes. Not me. No. Not me.

Well, hell.

The humidity had me sweating and cool at the same time. My skin felt
like a raw oyster tastes. At least I think that's good description.
Hot, cold, sweaty, slimy, and clammy. You know.

The light turned red again. The car directly in front of me was an old
Mercedes. The passengers window gradually became clear in the middle as
the woman wiped her hand in cirlces. She looked at me, then at the
dreary sight of the bus stop. She leaned in close to the window, and I
thought she was going to mouth something to me. 'Hello', or something.
She inhaled deeply, opened her mouth wide and exhaled onto the window,
re-fogging it quickly. The light turned green and they sped off. I
thought about it for a moment, looked at the rear window, fogged up as
well, and hoped she could see me.

"Fuck you, too."