A Miserable Bus Ride

Normally, I enjoy taking public transportation.

There is something about it that feels good. It’s economical, it’s efficient, it feels safe and relaxing. I don’t have to worry about parking or fueling up or crashing.

Most of the time…

Yesterday, I had a miserable time on a bus.

I had the misfortunate timing of evening rush hour to try to get to an event. When the bus pulled up to my stop and opened it’s doors, passengers almost spilled out. A few people got off and the mass of people inside managed to inch a bit deeper into the bus to clear space for me and a dozen others to get on. I had to contort my body to fit into a small space between people. There must’ve been 150 people on this bus.

At each stop, a dozen or so people pushed desperately to get out the back while another dozen or more stepped on to replace them. Each time, I got shoved a little further back. Each minute, it got hotter and sweatier and people’s patience getting thinner and thinner. At one stop, two guys got into a tussle on their way out and once on the street starting fist fighting. I watched them throwing haymakers at each other as the bus pulled away.

And I continued in this way for the next 45 minutes.

By the time I got off, I was drenched in sweat and my back hurt from the weird angles I had to hold my body in.

I learned a lot from the experience:
1: I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to live “off-peak.” Most of the times when I ride the bus, it’s in the middle of the day and I practically have the bus or metro to myself. I can kick back and read a book or write.
2: The value of being fit. I’m relatively fit and strong so holding on to a handrail and keeping my balance, while annoying, wasn’t a physical strain compared to so many others who I saw getting thrown around with each start and stop of the bus and who were out of breath just standing there.
3: Something normally pleasant can be unpleasant under different circumstances. Despite that, there is tremendous value in doing it anyway (see points 1 & 2).