Someone called the cops on me today
May. 7th, 2025 07:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
disappointed_lesbianI was going to call this post 'worst grocery day ever,' but the time I got stranded out of town and had to walk back home, on that same trail where the attempted sexual assault happened last year, with my arms burning under the weight of my groceries, was worse. I probably had a migraine too.
The bus is too noisy and shopping out of town is tiring, so I tried to avoid multiple trips by doing as much of my shopping as I could in one day. I left at just before seven in the morning today. I went to four stores and ended up with three medium-sized boxes and one grocery bag, plus the stuff I fit into my backpack. I had forgotten to drink anything until late in the day, so, by the time my bus came, I once again had a migraine starting.
I was the last passenger to try to board. The driver shut the door in my face. He said some things to me, but I couldn't understand more than a few words through the door. Eventually I figured out that, according to him, I had too much stuff to board with. I'd never had a bus driver tell me that before. I had no other way home and I sure as hell wasn't going to end up stranded in a different town while fifty dollars worth of food went bad. He was busy negotiating something with the second-to-last passenger, so I parked my stuff at the curb, moved in front of the bus, and pulled down the bike rack. He said no and shook his hand at me. I tried to yell through the front window that he wasn't going anywhere without me, but my voice maybe didn't carry well. He called someone, probably dispatch. And dispatch called the police, apparently.
I had been standing in the same spot in front of the bus for maybe fifteen minutes when a local police officer arrived. He asked me what was going on and I said the driver was going to strand me there. He spoke to the driver briefly and then came back to me. He told me that I had to get out of the road (we weren't actually on any public road; we were in the "transit mall," a one-block stretch where only buses and pedestrians are allowed. I wasn't blocking any traffic whatsoever except that one bus.) He said that it was against the law. So I had to give up or be arrested. Honestly, it burns me up to think about it. Part of the reason I had so much stuff is the bus being so exhausting. Nothing can be done about the sound of the motor, but the drivers don't enforce the no cell phone policy, and the cell phones are worse than the motor. I know they probably cannot hear the cell phones sometimes, but I doubt they enforce the policy even when they can. Plus their paratransit services don't accommodate my disability. So I tried to ameliorate the situation for myself and this was the result. I'm just continually running into walls trying to live with auditory sensitivity. How do I live? In continual stress and poverty, I guess.
I wonder whether I can sue the bus company. I took down the bus number and the police officer's name and badge number just in case, even if I just make a complaint. At first I couldn't think of a good reason to ask for money other than pain and suffering. Then it hit me: a bicycle. So I can bike that trail instead of relying on the bus. Plus a cart I can attach to the bike to carry my groceries in. I'm not sure how good my case is, though. There is a lawyer who offers free advice in the library; I could ask that person. As far as I know, the policy concerning the amount of baggage passengers can bring is not posted.
Well. I got plenty of exercise today. And ate very little. It's a good thing I picked up an energy bar from the last store I was at, otherwise I might have felt even more ill. I had fruit with me, but no fat or protein. I waited for the next bus, hungry, tired, with a migraine, wearing a soaked pad. The next driver was suspicious and said that I couldn't board with a dolly. But I wasn't pushing a dolly; I had my boxes piled on top of a small basket. I explained that it folded up and he let me on. If the first driver had spoken to me, maybe the same thing would have happened.
I didn't have the energy to walk all that stuff back to my apartment, so I had to wait until the local shuttle made its loop around town before I finally got home, about ten and a half hours after I'd left. That was just over an hour ago; bedtime is in one hour. My whole day is gone. I wonder how much my grocery bill would be if I did all my shopping in town.
I finally got a decent amount of sleep last night. This new melatonin I have is supposed to be taken at bedtime, but my digestion is off and I have to take it before then to feel the effects by bedtime. I didn't expect that with a chewable supplement.
I spent too much money at the dollar store today, but I needed cleaning supplies. I just bought a sponge last month and it was ruined weeks ago, or, at least, I have no idea how to clean hair off of it. It won't rinse off and the hairs are too short to pull off. They're basically embedded in the sponge. I also stopped at the hardware store and bought some better quality cleaning supplies, some washclothes that I can wash hair out of, the kind that won't end up ruined by lint. Plus I had forgotten my prescription ibuprofen, so I bought ibuprofen so that I could finish my shopping without being in pain, plus I bought some nuts because I have to take the ibuprofen with food or it'll hurt my stomach. Going shopping is just a huge event.
The bus is too noisy and shopping out of town is tiring, so I tried to avoid multiple trips by doing as much of my shopping as I could in one day. I left at just before seven in the morning today. I went to four stores and ended up with three medium-sized boxes and one grocery bag, plus the stuff I fit into my backpack. I had forgotten to drink anything until late in the day, so, by the time my bus came, I once again had a migraine starting.
I was the last passenger to try to board. The driver shut the door in my face. He said some things to me, but I couldn't understand more than a few words through the door. Eventually I figured out that, according to him, I had too much stuff to board with. I'd never had a bus driver tell me that before. I had no other way home and I sure as hell wasn't going to end up stranded in a different town while fifty dollars worth of food went bad. He was busy negotiating something with the second-to-last passenger, so I parked my stuff at the curb, moved in front of the bus, and pulled down the bike rack. He said no and shook his hand at me. I tried to yell through the front window that he wasn't going anywhere without me, but my voice maybe didn't carry well. He called someone, probably dispatch. And dispatch called the police, apparently.
I had been standing in the same spot in front of the bus for maybe fifteen minutes when a local police officer arrived. He asked me what was going on and I said the driver was going to strand me there. He spoke to the driver briefly and then came back to me. He told me that I had to get out of the road (we weren't actually on any public road; we were in the "transit mall," a one-block stretch where only buses and pedestrians are allowed. I wasn't blocking any traffic whatsoever except that one bus.) He said that it was against the law. So I had to give up or be arrested. Honestly, it burns me up to think about it. Part of the reason I had so much stuff is the bus being so exhausting. Nothing can be done about the sound of the motor, but the drivers don't enforce the no cell phone policy, and the cell phones are worse than the motor. I know they probably cannot hear the cell phones sometimes, but I doubt they enforce the policy even when they can. Plus their paratransit services don't accommodate my disability. So I tried to ameliorate the situation for myself and this was the result. I'm just continually running into walls trying to live with auditory sensitivity. How do I live? In continual stress and poverty, I guess.
I wonder whether I can sue the bus company. I took down the bus number and the police officer's name and badge number just in case, even if I just make a complaint. At first I couldn't think of a good reason to ask for money other than pain and suffering. Then it hit me: a bicycle. So I can bike that trail instead of relying on the bus. Plus a cart I can attach to the bike to carry my groceries in. I'm not sure how good my case is, though. There is a lawyer who offers free advice in the library; I could ask that person. As far as I know, the policy concerning the amount of baggage passengers can bring is not posted.
Well. I got plenty of exercise today. And ate very little. It's a good thing I picked up an energy bar from the last store I was at, otherwise I might have felt even more ill. I had fruit with me, but no fat or protein. I waited for the next bus, hungry, tired, with a migraine, wearing a soaked pad. The next driver was suspicious and said that I couldn't board with a dolly. But I wasn't pushing a dolly; I had my boxes piled on top of a small basket. I explained that it folded up and he let me on. If the first driver had spoken to me, maybe the same thing would have happened.
I didn't have the energy to walk all that stuff back to my apartment, so I had to wait until the local shuttle made its loop around town before I finally got home, about ten and a half hours after I'd left. That was just over an hour ago; bedtime is in one hour. My whole day is gone. I wonder how much my grocery bill would be if I did all my shopping in town.
I finally got a decent amount of sleep last night. This new melatonin I have is supposed to be taken at bedtime, but my digestion is off and I have to take it before then to feel the effects by bedtime. I didn't expect that with a chewable supplement.
I spent too much money at the dollar store today, but I needed cleaning supplies. I just bought a sponge last month and it was ruined weeks ago, or, at least, I have no idea how to clean hair off of it. It won't rinse off and the hairs are too short to pull off. They're basically embedded in the sponge. I also stopped at the hardware store and bought some better quality cleaning supplies, some washclothes that I can wash hair out of, the kind that won't end up ruined by lint. Plus I had forgotten my prescription ibuprofen, so I bought ibuprofen so that I could finish my shopping without being in pain, plus I bought some nuts because I have to take the ibuprofen with food or it'll hurt my stomach. Going shopping is just a huge event.
