Groundhog's Day

Every morning I wait for my bus to take me into work. While I'm waiting I think about how it's like Groundhog's Day. I see the same people everyday. The couple that walks past the church, the 2 moms with their boys taking them to school. There is just something fundamentally cute about 8 + 9 year old boys in suits and ties. The mismatched couple at the next stop. He looks like a typical student, she looks like a young executive. They never fail to sit together. One woman wears exactly the same thing every day: coat, beige hat, blonde hair pulled into a low pony tail tucked into her coat, ear phones and a a hot pink woven plastic basket. The boy with down's syndrome who carries the same backpack and flags the bus even though it's pulling over, the guy in the suit with too much hair gel... Then there is Jeaneane Garafolo, who smokes while she waits, paces and gives me the manhatten-once-over everytime I approach. She approves if I'm in black pants or jeans, but hates the Kermit and the Red Velvet pants and any skirt I may dare to wear. I, in turn show up every day with my white coat, black bag, blue gloves. It's a silent wait, all turned to face the on coming traffic. We never speak to each other, except one woman how can always be counted on to say good morning and wonder if she's missed the bus, is it running late? I thought such a life would be stifiling to me. Growing up in a small town where everyone knew my business before I knew it, I'm pre-disposed to hate small town life. But I really enjoy the regularity of it all. You start to recognize people, like the security guard who I spotted in a store one afternoon. I like that I have the same checker at Tesco everytime I go in. Only the bus drivers change. But I'm starting to recognize them too.