Ok. Here's the story. It might not sound as funny in writing but it's a great story. My housemate says it's a classic BART story.

I was up in Oakland for a meeting and I had a little roller-bag carry on. I stopped at Peet's for a latte after the meeting before going to SFO. I debated getting the caffeine or not, but went for it and then I sat outside near a planter as I drank it.

Then I went to the BART station and when the escalator was going down the steep entrance and I had a momentary bit of vertigo and thought, "Whoah. Maybe I should have gone decaf."

Then I'm on the BART and I look at the suitcase (which was my housemate's) and I see dozens of little white spider-like bugs crawling all over the surface of the bag! They were tiny and I honestly wondered if they were even there. I looked at these bugs that appeared out of nowhere and seriously wondered if I was hallucinating. I texted a few friends to tell them that I was tripping or something. A guy sat near me and didn't seem to notice anything, thus confirming my deranged mental state. I was wearing a dark shirt and I examined the pieces of lint to see if they were moving. I looked at the BART seats to see if bugs where there too but my hallucination seemed to be restricted to the suitcase. I made sure the bag did not touch my leg or anything so I could prevent the bugs from climbing on me. The guy sitting near me got off at some stop.

Next another guy sat in his chair and I was afraid to look at him. I tried to not stare at my bag because I didn't want to seem like that crazy homeless lady who sees things that aren't there. Out of the corner of my eye I see the guy looking around and then he does a double-take when he sees my bag. His face changes and he looks intrigued and then a bit horrified. He stares at the surface of my bag and I feel like yelling, "It's not a hallucination!" but I refrained. By this point my skin is itchy and then my head is. Now that I know the bugs are really there, I'm afraid to be seen scratching my head or back because then I'm really going to look like a bag lady. I see the guy bend down and scratch the ankle of the leg closest to my bag and he looks bewildered and then a bit nervous. He changed seats!

I was this crazy homeless lady with bugs and no one wanted to sit next to me!

When I got off the BART I tried to wipe and flick a lot of the bugs off. I was laughing at my situation (and still relieved that I wasn't tripping). I was flying on a tiny plane and I didn't have to check any luggage but I figured I'd check the bag plane-side and then it would be put in a compartment and the cold temperatures would kill the bugs. But just my luck - this time the plane-side cubby was full so they had to put 2 of the plane-side checked bags in the cabin seatbelted in. And my bug bag was one of them! So the bugs didn't die.

Basically I infested the BART and an airplane. Where did the bugs come from? I guess there is a chance they came from the planter by Peet's but I don't think so since I didn't have any on my body (even though I felt all creepy-crawly and did have to take a shower when I got home) or on my purse. I suspect perhaps a spider or something left some eggs on the bag when it was in the garage and they hatched. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So next time you see some lady who seems crazy on the bus and she's scratching her head and her bag has bugs crawling all over it, don't judge. Say hi! I promise to greet you warmly!