Sometimes things work out just right...

So, with all my regular bitching and moaning about the MTA (New York's public transportation system), something good actually happened tonight. I better give credit where credit is due. Not to mention, I'll need a record of this because I doubt it will happen any time again soon.

I was coming back from an appointment to donate blood. The Blood Center rejected me tonight because they said my iron was low. Strange ... and there I was thinking I'd eaten too much today. OK, guess I'll go eat some liver and ... pumpkin seeds, a good source of iron, according to the Blood Center handout. I love pumpkin seeds! I can deal with that!

The Blood Center is on 67th Street between 1st and 2nd avenues; my bus stop is at 57th between Lex and 3rd, so I figured I'd just walk it. I walked down 3rd, was almost at the intersection of 57th, and there was a red light. I looked over to the right in the direction my bus comes and, "F***, there's my bus!" I began to mumble entreaties to the gods of traffic lights: "Change! Turn yellow now! Now!" No luck, the bus still had the green light and I watched it go by. Dejected, I began to cross the street. How long a wait would I have now, I wondered?

But wait! Was this a mirage? There was another QM1A/Glen Oaks bus approaching the corner. How could this be? It was almost empty, and this was the last stop in Manhattan. Hm. Strange. Was there some problem? Were they not taking passengers? As I crossed the street the driver had already passed the actual stop and was waiting for the light to change, so I tried to get his attention and then I knocked on the bus door.

Here was the weird part. The part I really didn't expect to happen. He opened the door and LET ME ON THE BUS! I was subjected to a three-second lecture on the fact that he didn't HAVE to do that, but I didn't care; I was in! I thanked him profusely, slid my Metrocard into the scanner, and went and sat down in my luxurious, comfortable seat with no one squished up against me.

The bus ride took just over half an hour, a lot quicker than usual, because there were fewer passengers and fewer stops. I would have taken the guy's name and praised him to his superiors. But I didn't want him to get into trouble for being nice to a rider. He'd never live down that reputation.