The Bus of Laughter and Not Regretting

RantWoman ran into Friend Whose Voice Smiles the other night. Friend Whose Voice Smiles is a member of Eastside Friends Meeting but she works near where RantWoman lives. Not too long ago Friend Whose Voice Smiles and her husband moved closer to this Friend's work, 1 bus away instead of a car drive over a clogged bridge or multiple buses. This means that every so often RantWoman gratefully, mirthfully runs into Friend Whose Voice Smiles on the bus.

Friend Whose Voice Smiles has an academic background in medieval history; she has a delicious sense sometimes of how the medieval carries over, for better or worse, in modern life. RantWoman has not thought to discuss with Friend Whose Voice Smiles the vast reserves of sordid dramas which spill out aboard the average bus but RantWoman has the unshakeable feeling that a sense of medievalism is entirely topical.

This time, this Friend's gift was applied to various matters on RantWoman's heart, including more than one involving Conflict is a Gift of God Friend. RantWoman notes that the conversation occurred in delicate Quakerese and in shorthand to boot. By bus standards, there was an appalling dearth of profanity. Nevertheless the content was nearly as sordid as many of the one-sided cellphone conversations delivered unto RantWoman's ears.


For instance, there was mention of the phrase "boil in oil" although this phrase was uttered with the sort of hyperbole allotted in RantWoman's Meeting for Friends confessing some or another utterly unQuakerly and otherwise inappropriate antisocial yearning, only OCCASIONALLY seasoned with alternatives such as spells of Quakerly reticence. Friend Whose Voice Smiles betrayed not a whit of dismay. On the contrary Friend Whose Voice Smiles gave RantWoman a HUGE gift no one else has given her: Friend Whose Voice Smiles LAUGHED.

Then Friend Whose Voice Smiles affirmed RantWoman's sense that not talking to... for awhile made eminent sense. Then RantWoman and Friend Whose Voice Smiles moved on to much else also to laugh about, and Friend Whose Voice Smiles helped RantWoman and the driver match up stop needs and RantWoman went off to her next obligation!