Bus Stop Proposal

Quirky romance must be in the air this fall.

Yesterday, we told you about the Halloween-themed nuptials of an Ohio couple who swapped vows as vampires and opted for an initial bite on the neck instead of the traditional first kiss.

Today we share the story of the bus stop proposal. Eric Anderson is clearly not the type of guy who is content with pulling out a ring at a nice restaurant. He was determined to do something different.

So, when the engineer spotted available ad space at the bus station shelter girlfriend Rachel Clark uses every day a light bulb went off.

"At first I was afraid it wouldn't be very romantic -- it's a bus station," Anderson told the Chicago Tribune. "But I mentioned it to her sister and my cousin, and they were both excited about it. I had two women who liked it, so I went with it."

Anderson contacted the ad company, JCDecaux, and initially thought his plan was foiled when he learned a single ad would cost a whopping $3,000. But through luck -- or fate -- he reached a softie ad executive, who was moved by his idea. She approached her boss, who OK'd a one-week ad for a discounted rate.

Excited, Anderson created an ad that perfectly blended their personalities and interests, and featured symbols of a heart (for love), the scales of justice (she's an attorney), a gear (he's an engineer for Ford Motors) and a knot (as in, let's tie the ...) running down the side. The main text got straight to the point: "Rachel! I love you! Let's be a team forever! Will you marry me? XOXO, Eric."

The big proposal happened on Wednesday, as Anderson hid behind the stop as Clark approached.

"I was lost in my own little world," Clark told the Tribune of what she thought was a typical workday. "I marched up to the bus stop, and he was standing behind it. ... He's like, 'Read the sign!' I started giggling and laughing going, 'Yes, yes!'"

He then presented her with a ring featuring a stone that had been passed down through his family for the past 130 years.

And for the next week, Clark gets to relive the proposal as she passes the sign on the way to work. "It's kind of cool to have this sort of little secret in the morning," she said. "I want to be like, 'That's me! I'm getting married!'"

We agree. That's totally cool.

Illustration courtesy of ahylton via stock.xchang.