Bus as community

So it's been a while. I have a book to read and a paper to write for one class. I have 1300 pages to read, 19 hours of lecture to listen to, and two tests to take for the second class. In five weeks. That's why I haven't been posting.

I just had to at this moment. Firstly, I actually have internet on this city bus. Sweet!

My driver just missed two consecutive turns, which means she had to find places big enough to "turn this 53' bus around!" (That's in quotes as homage to a friend and former co-worker who always said things like "Turn this bus around!" or "Back up the bus!" He used to say, "Back the truck up!" till his 3-year-old daughter misshouted "truck" in that phrase in the store when she was trying to call attention to some tasty treat.) There are at least seven passengers on the bus, and everybody was trying to be helpful. It really did take a community to get the bus going in the right direction. Thankfully, one knowledgeable woman went to the front to help. We're on our way now.

The other side of community that my wife told me about a month or so ago is the fact that on the downtown buses, people really get to know each other. It's truly amazing.

One instance of bus community I was happy to not be a part of was yesterday morning. The regular driver takes off Tuesdays, and that's the day I work from home. My two compatriots told me this morning that I should be glad I wasn't there. Why? My bike would have been demolished. The bus broadsided a car. Yowza! Thankfully, no one was hurt, but my bike sure would have been as it is perched on the front of the bus.

Coming to the station!