You know your city has reached a certain size when people with mental health issues start showing up on a regular basis on public transit. Of course Vancouver passed that mark decades ago. I use public transit frequently so I’ve seen my fair share of characters on buses and Skytrain.
It’s gotten to the point where I’ve started to recognize a few of them, for better or worse. One particular lady stands out to me for a few reasons, one of them being I’ve seen her the most. I’ve only seen this lady in the morning and she usually gets on the train about four or five stops. It’s hard to keep track of her because she never stays still and will wander the length of the cars.
Like most people with mental health issues on transit, she talks to herself. Actually, it’s more like she lectures people. She doesn’t yell but just speaks aloud on different topics that really make no sense to me. Everything she speaks about is done in a lecturing tone. Most of the time, I can’t really figure out what she’s talking about. I think one time, she was telling people about the dynamic between a husband and a wife. It was hard to follow. She doesn’t seem to be addressing anyone in particular and will walk up and down the car as she’s doing it.
Of course, she makes a lot of people uncomfortable because they just want to get to where they’re going in peace and having a raving woman prevents that. One of my friends encountered this woman one time and he was having a bit of a bad day so he just yelled at her to shut the hell up. She never stops talking so I can see why my friend did that. Whenever I see her, I just put my headphones and listen to some Katy Perry. Since she never confronts anyone physically, that’s problem solved right there.
She’s on the train a lot, enough that many people instantly know who she is. In fact, the short video above shows one of her ravings. To be very clear, I did not shoot that video.
I wonder who this woman is. Where does she go at nights? Why is she on transit anyways? Where is she going? How can I avoid her in the future?