I have spent a good portion of my life on buses; school buses, tour buses, Greyhound and Trailways buses and public transit buses. Of course, that means I have also spent a good portion of my life waiting for buses.
Among the many places I have waited, the most interesting, entertaining, freaky, funny, scary and downright wild place is Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis on Saturday night. I would get off work at the planetarium just as the demi-monde was coming to life, late enough that missing one bus meant a long wait for the next one. A woman alone was often presumed to be on the stroll, so I had the “pleasure” of turning down many propositions. I am told that the infamous Block E where I would wait has been leveled and a new entertainment mall has replaced it. I suppose that would make for a more comfortable wait for the bus, but there was something vibrant, vital and exciting about Hennepin that I hope is never lost.
Of course, if this were Hennepin there would be at least three level of signs on every building and hundreds of people on the sidewalk.