So, bus rides are a lot like airplane rides. The passengers, too.
I am a bus passenger almost identical to the plane passenger I am (I just realized how terrible this sentence is, but I don't know why or how to correct it!). Anyway, never will I strike up my own conversation with the person sitting next to me. Some days, I don't mind speaking to them. Most days, I prefer headphones or a book.
Depending on the day, I can often get a seat by myself for most of the ride home. Yesterday the bus filled up quickly. I had my iPod going. I was enjoying my jams. Suddenly the person who was sitting next to me was gone and an older (ish) woman sat down next to me. I continued my gazing out the window. I thought I saw her mouth moving in intense conversation in the reflection in the mirror, but wasn't certain. I tucked my hair well behind my ear to make sure she could see the headphones in them... If she had been talking to me, I wanted her to know that I wasn't being rude, but that I was just enjoying my music.
At the time she got on the bus, it wasn't full, so she had her choice of seats. However, since she boarded downtown, it would fill up quickly.
I realize a few seconds later that she is in fact talking to me. I make a big enough gesture out of my earphones so she knows I'm not rude. She doesn't really need me for the conversation. She's mostly muttering to herself. I nod. Smile. Press rewind for the THIRD time for No Air (I just recently added it to my iTunes and I will probably always love that song...). After a bit longer, she asks, "You're pretty serious aren't you? You don't talk much." So I apologize and say that I was just listening to my music. She asks where I get off the bus and then continues incoherently (I wonder if the Mexicans could understand her- language barrier or incoherent rambling lady?). Finally she says, "You're not from here are you?" Again comes the incoherency (incoherence?) of traveling to the US and liking it/not liking it, etc.
Thankfully, she got off the bus within ten minutes of getting on. I was worn out.
And thankful to get back to Chris Brown.
Today, I got on the completely empty bus by school to come to the mall since my internet has not been acting right in the past 36 hours. Well, I was grateful for our early dismissal (12-paychecks, remember) because that meant no red-shirts at the prepa (high school) down the street. The bus was literally empty. That is, until our PE teacher got on.
You know, I'm all about friendly and nice, etc. But when there is a bus FULL or empty seats (is that an oxymoron?), why would you sit right next to someone? This is the one teacher at school who does the kiss greeting. No matter where he is or what he (or his students) is doing, he makes his way to me to greet me. He's also the one that Mabel thinks likes me. Ugh. No offense, but he's definitely old enough to be my father and I don't dig it.
I was just thinking yesterday as I walked from my stop to my house how a 40 minute bus ride seems so quick in hindsight. I get to my house and I can't believe school's been out for 45 minutes.
Today, however, those 15 minutes seemed an eternity. Longer than the whole bus ride usually seems. Of course, when he got to his stop, he had to kiss me goodbye.
Bleh.
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