I got on the M72 bus last week on Broadway, heading east to York Avenue, pulled out my Kindle, and resumed reading a book I’m really enjoying.  I was looking forward to the long ride and a good read.  I found one of the coveted single seats on the right side of the bus and settled in.  As luck would have it, 2 women sitting a few feet away in the handicapped seats behind the driver, resumed their conversation at a fairly high decibel level as soon as we pulled away from the curb.

I tried to read but it was difficult and I put my Kindle down in my lap.  Mercifully, one of them got off at West 72nd Street and Central Park West.  I was delighted as I swiped the bottom of the reader and resumed reading.  But no sooner did one of the loud talkers get off, then I heard a women get on and immediately begin a conversation with the driver.  “Uh oh,” I thought.  This bodes ill.

She proceeds to swipe her card, sits down and then within seconds she begins a conversation in a very loud voice with a woman in the first single seat right ahead of me.  I’m cooked.  I grab my Kindle, abandon my seat and move further back in the bus.

This second women manages to keep up a loud steady stream of words as it heads all the way to York Avenue,  although in doing so, she forgets to pull the cord to get off the bus at the stop before on First Avenue.  She starts yelling at the driver to stop the bus so she can get off.  The driver can’t and won’t do that.  I chuckle to myself in the back of the bus.

Here’s the moral of this story:  Don’t talk so loudly on the bus so other passengers get annoyed and wish you miss your stop.