Nag Nag

"These cell phones are the new ball and chain," the man said to me.

We were standing by the back exit on the 63 bus to Bay Ridge. There were no seats available and, as it was 3:30 in the afternoon, the bus was filling up with school kids. He was an older man than me, somewhere in his late fifties or sixties. We were both jostled about as the kids poured on.

"My wife," he said. "I can't get away from her. Always calling to find out where I'm at."

"Just don't answer your phone," I offered.

"Nah. I tried telling her the battery's dead, but she don't buy it no more. Jeez. These things..."

He pressed the sensor strip to signal the driver he wanted to get off. The bus careened past two stops.

A man behind us got up and yelled, "How do you get off this thing??!!"

The bus pulled over at the next bus stop.

"What're ya, off to the races?" the man next me said for the bus driver to hear. He stepped off the bus, and nodded back to me as he did.

His cell phone began to ring, and he shook his head, laughing.