Someone cares

A toothless homeless woman was walking around the Trax platform asking everyone

 "Are you safe? 

Are you  home? 

Are you loved?"

No.

Teen boy pops a zit and it lands on my skit. 

Just breathe. 

It’s either that or go to jail for killing 15 people.

Walking Crazy

A man says “I’ve been hit by cars 32 times…”

So I say, “maybe stop walking like a lunatic?” 

He responds “yeah, maybe.”

always listen

Little girl shoves her entire fist into her dad’s mouth.

Taken by surprise, Dad shouts “what!” 

Little girl says “you wasn’t listening.”

one by one

The girl sitting next to me is tweezing individual hairs out of her arm.

HAIL SATAN!

A boy just walked off Trax yelling “HAIL SATAN!”

Blessing Dance

This girl stopped me and did a blessing dance on me, then spent 20 minutes telling me…

Getting to know you...

At a stop light, the car pulls up to us and a man screams "Have you every climbed a mountain?!"

" uh... yes. yes I have."

no response.

drives away.

Boom Boom Pow!

Brought to you by Kenneth Loosli:

southbound Trax car >>> Valentine's Day 2010 8:30 am

"Mornin sunshine!" a loud voice calls from the far end of the train car.

No response.

A large woman with a man's bowl haircut stands up from the last bench wearing a misbuttoned flannel shirt and tan cargo pants with torn cuffs. She is smiling, slightly crosseyed and sipping from a Maverik travel mug.

"Mornin sunshine!" she calls again.

Still no response. She begins a slow progress down the aisle and walks the entire length of the car to the last bench on the other end, still smiling, crosseyed and sipping on her mug.

"How're you?" she asks a bearded man in sunglasses and a red hoodie.

"I'm tired. I's up till four in the morning partyin."

"Want some coffee?"

"Nah, thanks."

"It's gooood."

"No thanks."

"Boom boom pow! I don't usually drink coffee neither," the loud woman says. "But the money wasn't on my card."

"Money?"

"From my food stamps."

"You can get money for food stamps?"

"If you're on SSI you can. I already called 'em - they're s'posed to call me back."

"Where you livin at?"

"Kearns."

"Kearns? Why the hell you way out here in Salt Lake?"

"Having fun."

Her cellphone rings and she answers it.

"Yeah? Really? - 'cause I just checked. OK. Bye."

She hangs up, then stands up and attempts to perform some kind of gymnastic feat but fails and falls back onto the seat.

"WOO HOO! They put my $97 on my card! Boom boom pow!"

"It's party time!"

Another call comes through and she picks up.

"Hi! Yeah, can I come over today? Yeah. Yeah. No, no, no! I have money! I just gotta go get my - OK."

She hangs up.

"Boom boom pow! That was my dope dealer."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. In fact, I'm going to see two dope dealers today."

Her phone begins to ring again, this time she lets it play and she sings along.

"Boom boom pow! I love this song! It's Black Eyed Peas. It's on their new album."

She answers.

"What? Nothing. On the train. No. OK."

She hangs up.

"What're you doin today?" she asks the bearded man.

"Nothing."

"Want to take the bus out to Riverton? You know where Riverton is?"

"It's the sticks."

"Yeah, but that's where my dealer lives."

"It takes forever."

"No it don't - just take the handicapped bus."

"I am handicapped."

"Me too! - both physically and mentally. Boom boom pow!"

Urine Trouble Buddy!

Brought to you by Andy Johnson:

Walked down today to get a asada burrito from the street vendors on 8th & State today. (which are amazing and only $3 by the way) As I was walking down 8th, there was this guy acting really suspicious, enough for me to notice he was different from my surroundings. I glanced up and he had his fly down, junk to the wind in full view urinating on a tree. On 800 S. In front of a lot of people. Really, is it that far to Sears' bathroom?

Diet Coke Drama

Dear woman picking her nose and wiping it on the rim of her diet coke, over and over and over... 

PLEASE for the love of my gag reflex... DO NO DRINK ... 

::drinks:: 

FOR THE LOVE!

::insert gag noises followed by intense prayer that I would not puke on the train::

Beanie Fun

A man pulled his beanie over his head completely and then laughed maniacally through two stops. 

So, kids, don't do drugs.

Fist bumping for Jesus.

Trax stopped and well before it began to take off a young man shot onto the train as if it was the last off of a burning world. Tripped through the isle and then came back cause he saw me chuckle and reenacted the whole thing for me... so I got it on video...


Then, the awesome preacher across from me and him started talking about Jesus and they fist bumped for Jesus... like ya do.


Then they read the bible together. Out loud. 

It was really sweet. 

Stop lights are too long.

Brought to you by Shayla Dickson:

The man in the car in front of me is knitting at the stop light.

Say what?

The man next to me keeps yelling into his phone, "BUCKET OF CRAWFISH!!"

A simple photo.

A picture says a thousand words. What do you think his story is?

I am kind of in love with everything that is happening here.

Eyebrows.

A lady, we will call her “eyebrows,” asked to lick my hand.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, may I lick it?”

"Nah."

French kissing yourself

I thought I was sitting in front of a toothless man loudly sucking on his own tongue, then I turned around and I was right!

Candy, anyone?

An old man said to me, “you look like a piece of candy!”

Maybe it was my color combination? I am really hoping so.

Finding true love.

Last night as I was walking home from the Opera, a homeless man asked me if I would kill him. I said, "then who would kill me?" Interpolating that it would have to be tit for tat if I did so. Then we talked about life, and hope and God for a good 45 minutes. I was freezing, but we were having a good balanced conversation. At the end of said conversation, he mentioned that his one dream is to find a girl, someone that would love him in return. I said I had the same dream to find a man to love me in return and so though we were in different places and circumstances we were siblings in the same cause.

Then he proposed. It was sweet, he was sincere.
I almost said yes. 
Why not. 
We parted laughing and I think that was the best conversation I have had in a long time. I love discussing life, hope, and then having a laugh, a good hard laugh.

If I ever see him again, Scott was his name, I might rethink my no.

Young love

Brought to you by Aaron Rawson:

On Trax, this gem took a 3in knife and started poking his girlfriend in the leg. Then escalated to pretending to slice her. To him, it was hilarious.

I guess I just don't understand young love...

 

 

Bloody Hands

Brought to you by Andy Johnson:

I have a group of friends that we all used to ride the Red line to Daybreak at the same time. They are this group of chatty gals that just start talking to strangers, and when you reach your stop, you are friends. Its refreshing to find this kind of good still left in the world. Anyway, so we had become Trax friends. 

One December day last year, I get on the train and say hi to the gals, but then realize there were no seats in their section, so I sit down one row behind them. A homeless man starts talking to me since the awkward wall had broken with my 'hi". I could see days worth of urine stains on his dirty sweats and he had dried blood all over his face and hands. Wearing military fatigues and a hoodie. You could tell this guy had got in a serious bum fight. He starts telling me about his life, how he had been in the marine corps, and had been stationed in provo? Didn't know the marines had a base there. Probably a big government secret. He kept pointing his bloody fingers at my chest and saying "don't be an asshole" and pointing to himself, "I'm an asshole". He looked down at his hands and said "the blood on my hands, this is permanent." I reassuringly insisted that it could be washed off easily in the nearest public restroom. However, he was not convinced and kept insisting on shaking my hand. I resisted, but it was no use. I was getting the full contact of his and anyone elses blood on my hands. I just sat there and listened to his sad story because I knew if I sat with the gals, he would come on over and who knows what he would do or say. He asked if I was married, and I said I was, and he promptly asked if he could share my woman. There was a lot holding me back from giving this guy a fresh bloody nose. It was very sad and very funny at the same time. I got some alchohol wipes from my connecting bus and did a full detox. 

If you have stories of your own, submit them at peopleoftrax@gmail.com.

Charles M. Shulz

The boy sitting across from us said "Nice Peanuts" to the girl next to me on Trax, referring to her hoodie...

Meant as a pure compliment, the little kids behind us continued to chant "penis, penis..."

Tamales anyone?

You may have been asked to purchase home made tamales in the Walmart parking lot... But have you on trax?

Declined the offer and then was forced to smell it's amazing flavor for twenty minutes knowing very well I was are going home to an empty fridge!

End of the Line

There are few things more nerve wracking than sitting next to the guy who seems to have some inside information on the fact that the train is going to explode...

This guy is sitting on his hands, tapping his feet and keeps muttering "at the Gateway, train explodes, we will all die!"

It's good I am getting off two stops before that.

Hold on tight

The setup:

Tuesday it had been raining so I had a coat on, was holding my purse, folders, and an umbrella i.e. my arms were full. I am wearing a skirt.

The story:

When: Tuesday, 5 PM
Where: The cross walk from the salt palace to the Marriott hotel.
Who: I am walking across West Temple to the Marriott where I park.
What: half way across the street, I feel something hit my ankles... I look down and yes there it is. My skirt. Around my ankles. My arms are full. So... I kick up my skirt, now ONLY wearing my slip, and finish crossing the road. Did I mention it is 5 PM so people are filling the streets. So many people! In their cars, out of their cars, everywhere. I get to the side of the street and put my skirt on, yes on the corner. Laughing hysterically along the way. Then I am standing there calling my brother to tell him the story phone in hand and my skirt falls down AGAIN. Ridiculous. I hang up and pull up my skirt AGAIN. This time I hold onto it and head into the Marriott where I took a look at my skirt which somehow had expanded 4 extra inches around my waistline from my work to my car... so I fastened it with my hair tie and drove home.
How: NOT SURE what happened to my skirt. Seriously, there is no elastic that broke, no rip or tear. Just happened.

HILARIOUS.

911

The man next to me says, on the phone. "The lady at AA said it's normal to pee blood for three to four hours, but I'm gonna still get it checked out."

Good call dude, good call.