Nanny and the Polite Commuter

I don't remember who first told me this story. Might of been my mom but Nanny must have shared it first. I'm also not sure when it happened. Doesn't matter. It's a pretty timeless Nanny story.

Nanny's coming home from shopping downtown. Maybe she's coming home from Birks Jewelry Store, where she worked for some time. All that I know is that she has tons of groceries with her and is having a bit of trouble keeping track of everything. Let's say it's sometime in the 90s.

She gets on the bus, maybe the 108 Bannantyne or the 58 Wellington, and makes her way towards a seat. She plunks herself down and settles all her grocery bags around her. A kindly gentleman is sitting beside her and smiles politely as she arranges everything. The bus starts up and Nanny instinctively reaches out a hand to secure her bags. The bus rocks side-to-side, stops and starts so she keeps her hands stretched out on either side of her, keeping her bags nice a snug against her. 

A dozen stops go by, maybe about twenty minutes, or so and Nanny is lost in thought. Maybe she's thinking about her day, maybe thinking about a knitting project she's working on, maybe she's thinking that she'd love a smoke! Regardless, she's settled and in her own mind. She's enjoying a moment's rest until, closer to her stop at either 5ft avenue or Allard (depending on when this all happens), she knows that she'll somehow have to bundle her bags together, like some sort of mountaineer, pardon her way through and off the bus and then begin her walk up the street. 

"Excuse me but ..."

Suddenly the politely smiling man beside her is talking. Is he talking to me?, she wonders.

"Excuse me but I'm gonna need my leg to get off the bus". 

Nanny's confused. What the heck is this guy talking about? Is he from the Doug- "Oh my god!" Nanny, thinking that she's been keeping her bags held safely to her, has actually been firmly holding onto this man's pant leg!!! Nanny releases the man, whose polite smile has now become a chuckle. "Oh frig, sorry, sorry!" She says, flustered.

"Not a problem! Have a good'n!" He gets up and makes his way off the bus. 

Nanny casts a quick, furtive look around. Did anyone notice what just happened?, she wonders. No one's looking at her. The teenager across from her, in the baggy Vanilla Ice shirt, has his eyes closed, head bobbing to whatever music is coming through his Walkman. The two young girls with side ponytails, in over-sized sweaters and ripped jeans, are giggling together over a copy of Teen Beat and don't seem to notice either. She allows herself to giggle. Barney's gonna love this...