What Do You Think?

She boarded the bus but I did not pay her attention except to notice she was well dressed and that she sat down behind me.  A stop later the bus driver turned around in his chair and said ‘Miss, would you come here please’. He was looking right at me. I pointed to myself, ‘Me’ I asked?  Yes, He said. ‘Me?’ I asked again, but this time he said, ‘You know why I want you to come here’. I was completely at a loss. I turned around to see if there could be someone else in his line of fire and she stood up. As she approached him, he said,’ You know why I want to see you. I have told you you can’t keep using that ticket. You have to…’ “I’ll get off here,” she interrupted him. He kept the door closed. ‘ You have been told before you have to have a current ticket just like everyone else. It is the free riders that make the prices go up.’  Speaking as he was driving, he then pulled into the curb for the following stop. As she was disembarking, a man across the aisle from me called out ‘let her ride. What does it matter to you?’  But no one stood up to pay her fare which I expected might happen. The shouting man was seated in front of another nicely dressed woman in her early 50’s who said in reply, ‘You paid, didn’t you? Everyone else on the bus paid, didn’t we, why should she ride free?’  He argued with her that he had a heart and she didn’t. She replied that it had nothing to do with heart but everything to do with playing by the rules. The talk was firm but gentle. Each one held their ground.