Tuesday, May 22, 2007

True Story

Saturday I was at the Arthur stop, northbound, waiting on a 147. This was at dusk. An Explorer pulls up with 2 young men and a young woman. She gets out, flashes some hand signals but not the middle finger salute and sits down on the planter rim. The Explorer pulls away with the driver shaking his head.

She has a Razr out and is calling someone and bursts into tears, all upset because she is in the middle of "nowhere" and her contact must come get her. Then she gets all upset when the party on the other end tells her it will be about an hour. Then she tries to bum a cigarette off of me, but I don't smoke.

Over the next 10 minutes or so I learn she is from the Joliet area, her friends are in Wrigleyville partying, she took off with someone else and wound up with the Explorer guys, one of whom she knows, and she really wants a cigarette. She's a nice looking girl, in her 20s, long hair with streaks, a tad fluffy from too much alcohol, and she is absolutely determined to be stay helpless.

How did I figure out that last part? I explained that the El, right next to us, could get her to Wrigleyville in about 15 minutes and for $2. Well now, you must understand that she doesn't ride buses or subways where she comes from nosirreebob. And she isn't about to try it now.

She gets hold of another friend, in Aurora, complains when the friend tells her about an hour, and then gets really torqued when said friend 1) hangs up on her and 2) texts her to remind her just who is holding her keys.

The encounter ended with the arrival of the 147 and the young lady flouncing off to the 7-11 for a pack of cigarettes.

I have not run into anyone, in a long time, who was so determined to be a victim and demand that others rescue her. A perfectly good subway was in operation, she had the money to get on it and I would have walked her over and walked her through getting a ticket but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! She doesn't even want to try.

I think I know why no one raced out of Wrigleyville, or Aurora, to come get her. I wonder if and when she'll figure it out.

2 comments:

The North Coast said...

This girl sounds like a manipulative little "feminity-ist" drama queen whose principal survival skill is using her "feminine wiles" to get her way.

She also uses drama to get her way, I'm sure. She very likely will make a public scene anywhere, anytime that she thinks it will serve her. Her life is a drama a day, and she makes sure that everyone around her is focused on her and her little dramas at all times. She is not happy unless she has a three-ring circus of enabling morons doing dances around her at all times.

Trouble is, we still have lots of women being brought up on the "feminity-ist" template, and they are imprinted very young. You encounter them at age 50, still pulling the same crap, and not being able to figure out A. why their lives are such disaster areas, and B. that you can maybe get by with pulling this crap on men but other women won't tolerate it.

Fargo said...

Yesterday I had an encounter with a man who was a little bit like that. He came into the city to ride Bike the Drive. I was part of the volunteer team running the event. He was asking for a ride to the north end of the Drive, where he had left his car, because he was in a lot of pain (in an embarrassing area) and said he couldn't ride further.

I asked if he could take the El or a bus, just a few blocks away. He claimed he had no cash and didn't know how to get there. (Note that this was a guy wearing an expensive cycling outfit, riding an expensive road bike.)

I offered suggestions, because there were very few drivers available for transport, intended for real emergencies. He hung around for a while and eventually just left.

I always love it when people get in over their heads on bike rides (for a variety of reasons, usually due to being inadequately prepared) and then refuse to take public transit when it offers the best way to get back.