Conversations on the bus

I take the bus to work. There's all kinds of bizarre, mostly harmless characters. One of them is this one lady in her 60s who works at the mall, and she looks like she jumped straight out of a 1930s MGM movie. Big, deep set eyes with heavy lids. Deathly skinny. Like a very old, very skinny Marlene Dietrich. I wonder about her.

Today she sits down on the bus, holding herself up like she's on screen. Someone from the back of the bus calls her, a very enthusiastic lady I couldn't get a clear look at. It was pretty obvious that Mrs Dietrich didn't want to give her the time of day. She even did that whole "I'm gonna pretend to talk on my phone right now to avoid talking to you" thing, but she was caught.

"Hey [Marlene]!"

"Oh, hi honey."
Voice like Gloria Swanson, I swear

"Have you seen [So and So]?"

"Yes."

"I miss her."

"Mmm."

"You look so pretty today!"

"Aw, you're a darling."

[Silence]

"Ooh, where'd you get those pretty earrings?"

"Oh, honey, I don't even remember."

"They sure are pretty."

"You are a dear."

[Silence while Marlene goes through fake phone shennanigans]

"Hey, [Marlene], how's your cat?"

"Oh, she's good."

"What's your cat's name?"

"Princess"

Me: YES.

"Oh that is SO darling!"

[Marlene smiles, not looking up.]

[Long silence]

"My mom has a dog."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It's a little Shi-Tzu."

"..."

"His name is Reeses."

[Silence]

[End Scene]

I love the bus sometimes.