Red Jacket Guy

I first spotted him at Bus Destination # 2.
He had a red worded jacket on and I liked the words on that jacket.
He sat a few seats away from me
&
He was a talker.

I could tell that fact right away, as I heard him strike up a conversation with a woman who sat near me.
I didn’t pay much attention to him and his talking though.
I just thought he was a friendly.
& I am very ok with friendlys.

I saw that jacket again, a few hundred miles and a bus stop later.
I thought, ‘oh, there’s that talky guy with the red lettered jacket’.
Up to that point, I had not realized he was on our bus.

This time, he sat himself down next to a young man.
I looked away but, five minutes later I happened to look back.
Red Jacket and his new friend were yucking it up about something or another.
New buddies.
For sure.

We got back on the bus.
Mr Talky grabbed a seat directly behind me.
A young lady sat in the other seat.
She didn’t sound very thrilled when she said, “No, I don’t mind if you sit here”.
But, a conversation soon began.
At first, Ms Young Lady gave short answers to Red Jacket Guy’s wondering questions.
After a not so very long while though, they were yappin like two long lost pals.

‘New friends’ I thought, as I put my music in my ears.
How nice.

Along came another stop.
& as we exited the bus, I glanced over and saw Red Jacket and Ms Young Lady parting ways.
They looked as though they had known each other for years.

This particular stop was going to be a long one.
We had 3 & 1/2 hours to kill.
ugh.
What to do ?
What to do ?

I decided I would stare into space.
Maybe even do some people watching.
& so …
I did..

Mr Talky was one of the first people I noticed.
But, wait … what ?!? …  he wasn’t talking.
He was just sitting there staring into space like me.
There were other people around him but, unfortunately , no one was feeling the chat.
Red Jacket Guy looked uncomfortable and very out of place.
It was weird.

Slowly, finally it was time to re-board.
As husband and I entered our shiny new bus and found a couple of cozy seats Red Jacket shimmied his way on over to us.
“Mind if I sit here?” he asked as he sat down across the aisle.
“Not at all” we replied.

ready … set … GO !

The conversation began.
& continued.
& continued some more.
& probably would still be happening had we not reached our destination.

And what a conversation it was …!…
Entertaining would be an understatement.
Seems Red Jacket Guy had lived the life
& then some.
And we heard all about it
& then some.

Eventually, we came to our final stop and had to go our separate ways.
“Nice to meet you !” and “It’s been fun !” were exchanged as we shook hands and walked away.

Before we made it to the door, I gave one final glance to our newly discovered best friend.
He had found himself an elderly gentleman and was striking up yet another conversation.
I smiled and turned away.

A second or so later I heard footsteps running up behind me.
“Hey! Guess how old that guy is ?!?” Red Jacket excitedly asked.
“Uhhh .. 70 maybe … I don’t know …75 ?” I replied.
“He’s 86 !! and he was a Merchant Marine !” he exclaimed.

With that, he happily trotted back to Mr 86 Year Old.
They were laughing like lifelong friends as we walked out the door.

Goodbye Mr Talky Red Jacket Guy.
I will be thinking about you and your awesome communication skills for a very, very long time.

🙂