I had cause again to contemplate the nature of a very long bus ride the other day. I had business in Santa Monica, which is a very long way from where I live. By private car, it can be something like forty minutes. By public transit, it's between ninety minutes and two hours. Needless to say, that's an unpleasant amount of time to spend commuting, and that's just one way. Well, I had plenty to occupy myself.
This particular route had me on a very crowded bus, and so I had less opportunity to be productive than I might ordinarily. I will allow that I got a lot of podcast listening done over the course of four hours, but not much else. I would like to have gotten some writing done, but I just can't seem to manage that while standing for such a prolonged period of time. Who knows? I might be so wrapped up in an idea that I might get pick-pocketed.
The people on those buses can be a bit much. An animal instinct takes over when space on a bus is in short supply. People get rather ruthless about getting on board and pressing backward in search of a space to sit down (or at least space to breath). I would like at times to have gotten away from the people around me. Someone had the effrontery to pass gas, and another fellow found the bus to be the perfect place to clip his nails.
At least those people were quiet. Not everyone was so considerate as to keep their mouth shut and avoid eye contact, as one does in hopes of allowing everyone to pretend that the situation is anything but unpleasant and awkward. Anyway, I got through the ordeal, and I have the consolation of knowing that it's a rare experience for me to make that trip. Others face it twice a day, five days a week. I'm sure I couldn't take that.
2 comments:
Okay, you had me laughing out loud. Passing gas on the bus, the person may have needed a rest room.
Gosh! That was a brave undertaking! Amazing what we can accomish when put to the test!
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