Thin, flimsy plastic sheets propped up on wobbly rods shudder in the wind as the sleet shoots sideways and you shiver and shake in the dark and lonely bus shelter.
Wrapped in thin gloves and a thick, wet scarf, you stand patiently as your book-filled backpack silently jabs your spine and strains your shoulders. Fingers freezing, knees shaking, you wince and hug yourself as you keep looking way up the street, wishing, hoping, praying that you’ll please please see the bus heading right for you.
Folks, we’ve all been there and it’s not a pretty scene.
But hey, that’s what makes it so great when you hit one of those magic moments where you arrive at the bus stop just as the bus peels out from around the corner.
Pupils dilate, eyebrows rise, and a clown-faced smile curls onto your face as you realize you just hit the Public Transportation Jackpot.
Yes, in those perfect scenes you’re suddenly a Bus Fleet Fatcat, swimming in tickets and tokens, commanding your private army of Sugar Rollers around town to pick you up and drop you off as you see fit. Baby, if you’re feeling this buzz, then there’s no reason you can’t get right into it, too — whistling with both pinkies just before it stops or clapping your hands beside your ear twice as if you’re hailing it for real.
And how perfect is it when this dream scene ends with the bus stopping right in front of you, the door swinging open, and the bright, round-faced driver flashing you a big toothy smile and a tip of the cap as you walk in the door.
AWESOME!
I am sooooo glad that I don’t have to take the bus anymore!! Although I miss the people watching and iPod on the way to work.
I can remember vividly how this feels though. There really is almost nothing better.
Do you also miss the late night bluish light glow on the inside of the bus or the standing-up-and-moving feeling? For some reason, I love it when the bus is moving forwards and I’m walking backwards down it. I feel like it’s four movements at once — bus forward, me backward, Earth spinning, universe expanding. Dizzy!
PMSL
I haven’t taken the bus since I lived in New York City. It has its charm though.
This is so true. It’s a rare but sweet moment hitting the transit jackpot.
Even better than this is getting on your first bus just as it comes around the corner, and then when you go to get on the transfer bus have that be waiting for you as well. I remember when I used to take the bus most of the time I’d have to wait 25 minutes since the transfer came every 30 minutes and that’s just how it was timed for me. But sometimes I’d just get lucky, get on the first bus in time, then race across the green and get to the second bus before it pulls away.
AWESOME!
Wow, that’s nice, TAS. Double Jackpot. I love that you run for the second bus, too. It’s worth so much at that point — I picture you dodging taxis and sliding across the hoods of cars.
oh man this is the best!
This really makes me smile! So true.
You put a picture of a Japanese bus on this post.
In Japan, buses and trains arrive exactly when the time schedule says it will!
The public transportation system here is extremely punctual.
So, you don’t have to stand around wondering when the bus / train will arrive in Japan…just look at the time-table.
Folks, it’s like I always say: We can learn much from the Japan.
WE NEED THAT IN NYC PRONTO
I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THERE WAS A SCHEDULE!!
I heard that bus stops in America don’t have a time-table.
How do you know when the bus will arrive?
Magic 8 ball.
I’m with tokyo5. I just moved to Switzerland and I’ve been amazed at the punctuality of the transit here. Simply amazing. No need to be 5 minutes early, just in case. If you add up all of those 5 minutes, that’s a lot of time.
Although in Ottawa (especially in the middle of February), this was definitely AWESOME.
Great post.
Especially for a Winnipegger, seeing that bus swing around the corner is like watching the angels descending.
And when the door opens, and the warm air pours out all over you, you can’t help but get a bit high.
A particularly awesome thing.
I like the emphasis on the warm air, David. I can totally see heat in Winnipeg being awesome.
Hmm, winter days + warm buses = happiness
Defo again. It’s even more impressive when it’s raining. :D Also makes you feel like something’s watching over you. LOL
The worst is when you arrive at the bus stop just as the bus is leaving. NOT AWESOME.
I saw on Top Gear that in Japan a train arriving more than 30 seconds after it’s due time constitutes “late”, and they’ll give you a slip to give to your boss to tell them. Presumably because they otherwise wouldn’t believe it when it’s so reliable.
Yes, that’s exactly right.
tokyo5, we need you around here for lots of information gathering.
I had this down to a fine art last year when I was catching the bus to school every day. I’d always manage to rock up at the stop just before the bus. It was
AWESOME.
What was not awesome were the few times I misjudged, left the house too late, and arrived to that gut-wrenching sight of the bus pulling away.
Reminds me of a visit my husband and I made to Berlin shortly after we were married. The buses there ran every three minutes, so we never bothered with a timetable…even if we watched a bus pull away as we walked up, another one was coming in three minutes. big deal. But the Germans always appeared at the bus stop a few seconds before the bus, and they always gave us a look that clearly said, “Stupid Americans don’t even know how to read a bus schedule!” :-)
Ha ha!
I used to be a ticket controller.
Another public transportation awesome thing:
when ticket controllers appear out of the blue, you don’t have a ticket, you feel doomed, but before they get to you, they have to stop and fine some dude.
The next station is closer, then the doors open and you got away with it.
I’m walking on sunshine, ooo-ooh!
LOLOLOLO :D Awesome! :D
I have to agree that is pretty rad, but it’s even better when you thought that you missed the bus and you’re all like “oh noes!1!!!11!1” and then the bus shows up and you can enter into the warm smelliness and sit with the hobos (that might just me, I go to school in a pretty shady area)
I like this for a different reason. Because if the bus isn’t coming around the corner by the time I’m at the bus stop, that means I’ve missed it. Haha, I’m running late like everyday.
AND the very last ship setting sail for the night…especially the free ferries through the Kootenay’s, of B.C., “when the moonlight is nearly the only light you see.
perfect timing.
:) It’s just happened to me right now! Well, without the part of rain and cold! But i was late for work!
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