When It Rains, Bus Driver Shines

On a recent rainy day on the way to work on the bus, at one stop the Metrobus driver was about to pull away from the kerb when a passenger called out "somebody left an umbrella," and another passenger called out "it was the guy who just got off with the pony tail."  So the bus driver tooted the bus horn several times to get the attention of the guy with the long grey ponytail who was walking briskly away from the bus, sans brolly.  The guy didn't turn around so the driver pulled up behind him as he was now in the intersection as it was a red light for the bus.  The driver pulled down his window and called out "hey, you, ponytail, you left your umbrella!" and this time the guy heard him and stopped in front of the bus right in the middle of the intersection.  The driver turned towards the passengers in the back of the bus who had called out and said, "Quick, get me the umbrella" and one of them grabbed it and ran and handed it to the driver who then passed it out the window to the man with the long grey pony tail who smiled and said "thank you very much."  You just never know when something good might happen on the bus!

Shoe Shine Men in Plain Sight

Outside the Starbucks store on K at 14th Streets NW I espied a shoe shine man waiting, apparently, for some customers with shoes that needed shining but to no avail as everyone was wearing flip flops, or open shoes or sandals where the toes don't need the shiny stuff he was selling. He sat there chatting with a friend glancing at the passersby in the morning sun as I sipped my coffee. Did he get any customers that 15  minutes I was there? No. Did anyone stop by and ask how much it cost? No. Did he try and get pedestrians to stop and have their shoes shined? No. Was there a sign about how much it cost to have one's shoes shined? No. So I came to the conclusion it might have been a surveillance unit of some sort, especially as the white truck behind the set-up was unmarked and I've heard they do surveillance in plain sight, whoever they is and there's certainly little need for shoe shine men on K Street on a hot August morning.