Phone alone

Over the weekend, I rode the bus with a man who was pretend-talking on the phone. Remember when you were little and you imagined that you had some very important job–like you were the president or something–and you would pick up an imaginary phone and have very important imaginary conversations with your VP and members of your cabinet? Picture that, except with a grown man and a real cell phone.

The man in question was old and very frail, yet he stood in the back near the door, despite the numerous empty seats. Here’s how his “conversation” went:

“I’m going to finish that section on composition.” [pause] “I did comment on that. Yes, that was excellent, and congratulations to you. OK. Uh-huh. We’ll wait and see if he graduates. OK. Alright. Uh-huh. Yes.”

Then, he began again.

And again. And again, using exactly the same words, in exactly the same order, at exactly the same pace, for the entire ride. He was still talking while the driver lowered the lift to let him off.