bus stories
.--. .---. .-. .---|--| .-. | A | .---. |~| .--. .--|===|Ch|---|_|--.__| S |--|:::| |~|-==-|==|---. |%%|NT2|oc|===| |~~|%%| C |--| |_|~|CATS| |___|-. | | |ah|===| |==| | I | |:::|=| | |GB|---|=| | | |ol| |_|__| | I |__| | | | | |___| | |~~|===|--|===|~|~~|%%|~~~|--|:::|=|~|----|==|---|=| ^--^---'--^---^-^--^--^---'--^---^-^-^-==-^--^---^-'
14th of April, 2024 | 14.04.2024 | unavailable on medium
![Bus transportation. A black and white photograph of a bus turning around the corner.](../media/bus.jpg)
Bus transportation.
here is a collection of bus stories that made me fall in love with humanity. these are just accounts that i have seen happened while on a bus or while waiting for a bus.
the bus was standing at the bus stop and i was running for it. i was running from the front of the bus, so the driver had a clear view of me. but when i finally managed to get to it, the driver just closed the doors in front of me. i stood there for a few seconds, hoping that maybe he'll open them. but he didn't. so i started to turn around, thinking that i'll just go to the other bus stop and get on another bus there. but the bus got stuck in a traffic jam without being able to leave the bus stop and i heard a man on the bus stop shouting, 'he opened, opened!' i turn around and saw that the driver did in fact opened up the doors for me. i hopped in. i wasn't quick enough to thank that random man without whom shouting i would've just left. to whomever it was: thank you.
i was on a bus which was arriving at a stop when i heard the driver say through the speakers: 'controllers are getting on the next stop'. controllers, in my country, are people who check whether you've paid for your ticket or not. i immediately see a lot of people pull up their phones and pay for the ticket. when the bus arrives at the next stop, no controller gets inside. but everybody already paid. what a cheeky bus driver
i was on a bus one time when i heard from behind me the driver say, 'miss!' i turn around but the exclamation was not directed at me. instead, it was directed at a middle-aged Russian woman who was standing in the corner at the front of the bus. she looks up and sees the driver giving her a piece of cloth. she takes it and with quite a heavy Russian accent asks, 'what do ya need me to do?' the driver, i assume, points at the corner of the front glass. the woman wipes the fog from the window in the corner, which was blocking the rearview mirror. she then gives the piece of cloth back to the driver.
i was getting on a bus one time on a chilly Spring day. a young woman was getting off the bus wearing only sweater, something that wasn't warm enough for that day's weather. as i get on, i hear her say to herself quite depressed "good-bye warm bus".
i was waiting for a bus one time. a young man was standing near me, cigarette in his mouth and a match in his hands. i noticed that the match was broken. he was looking around a bit confused, thinking on what to do next. he gets his matchbox out of the pocket and opens it up, but there are no matches left. as he does it, he accidentally drops his (quite large, i must say) cigarette on the concrete. he puts the matchbox back into his pocket, picks up the unlit and unused cigarette and throws it in the bin together with the broken match. i didn't see him smoke afterwards while i was waiting for my bus.
i was on a bus one time when a large crowd of people get inside. there was an elderly woman. she puts her transport card on the card-reading machine, but the machine denies her card (as it often does, which means that you have to do it multiple times for it to pay). the elderly woman just continues walking. behind her a young girl tells her that her card didn't work, to which the elderly woman simply replies, 'eh, whatever.' she ended up riding on the bus for free.
i was waiting for a bus. there was a woman trying to catch a taxi, her hand stretched at the road. a car eventually stops by but it drives past the woman. the woman doesn't notice the car behind her, even despite the fact that the driver is beeping at her. the car slightly blocks the traffic and other drivers get a bit pissed at it. the driver starts to back up to where the woman is standing. at this moment, somebody from the bus stop shouts, 'miss!' and that catches the woman's attention. she turns around and sees the car waiting for her. she eventually talks with the driver about the price and then gets inside.
i was on a bus one time. there were a couple of elderly women sitting next to each other. one of them asks the other, 'is the circus stop this one or the next one?' a completely random elderly woman sitting in a different spot overhears their dialogue and loudly proclaims for the entire bus to hear, 'this whole bus IS the circus.' savage.
i was on a bus one time when a woman asks me how to pay for the ticket. she has a different app opened on her phone, which doesn't work in the city i live in. i tell her that and then tell her that she can simply pay for the ticket with an online banking app. another woman chimes in says, 'maybe the tickets are free today, it's a national holiday after all.' the original woman looks back at me but i shrug my shoulders. she then looks over at the driver to whom we were quite close, but the driver is completely focused on the road. she then looks back at me, smiles and says smugly, 'well, whatever, i'll just ride this one for free.'
'Bus transportation' by Harris & Ewing was used as the header photograph here. No known restrictions. The photograph was found on the Library of Congress.
ways to contact me
if you want to message me, feel free to do so through letterbird.co