Friday evening, Frances told us stories about taking public transportation in Miami, experiencing a world that most Miamians never see. There was the homeless man who shouted until he was ordered off the bus. There was the man in the wheelchair who smelled of urine ("yellow water" Frances said to Kieran in Gaelic, an excellent code language in Miami). It soon become apparent why: He had urinated on the bus.
"Here," Hania explained to Francis, "buses are not public transportation. They're a social service."
Taking the bus to Aventura, Frances found the cold blasts of air-conditioning intolerable. She walked up and asked the driver if she could turn it down. "I'M NOT GOING TO TURN DOWN THE AIR-CONDITIONING JUST FOR ONE PERSON!" the driver told Frances (who did a fine impersonation of a Miami bus driver). So Frances turned to the other passengers and asked how many wanted the air-conditioning lowered. She was greeted with stunned silence. They were probably too shocked, first, by this impromptu act of democracy, and second, by the fact that it was being conducted by an attractive, well-dressed woman with an Irish accent.
