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absolutely packed, and
I wound up standing in
the middle of the aisle. My head was way up
in the dome of the bus, so I couldn’t see out the
windows, which were much lower. As I bobbed
and weaved, trying to see around their heads out
the window, some of the passengers asked me
where I was going. When I told them, they said,
“Don’t worry. We’ll tell you where to get off.”
Everyone was very friendly and asked all the
usual questions – “Where are you from?”, “How
long are you staying here?”, and so on.
The bus was so packed, I was a bit concerned
about my own personal hygiene, especially
because a man’s head was literally jammed in my
armpit. He was very friendly and kept turning
his head to look up and talk to me. Have you
ever experienced curry breath that would peel
paint? I tried to listen politely, but occasionally
turned my head to the side to suck in a breath
of fresh air. Fortunately, it was a short trip, and
I survived. Overall, it was a very nice trip and I
met some wonderful people.
I’ll never forget the large, double-decker,
inter-city bus in England. The bus that took a
couple of us to Stonehenge must have been an
express, because it went almost directly there.
The return trip was quite a different experience.
We boarded the bus, went to the upper deck,
and sat in the very front row for the great view.
When the bus got to a small town, it stopped
and picked up a bunch of school kids. We soon
discovered that this large, inter-city bus had
just morphed into a school bus. We turned off
the main road and dropped kids off in front of
houses on residential streets.
The most interesting part of this ride were
the half dozen school girls who came bounding
up the stairs and rushed to the front of the bus.
They sat in the rows immediately behind us, and
talked like we wasn’t even there. (It occurred to
me later that we were probably in their usual
seats.) They talked about homework, clothes,
hair, and boys! One of them said, “Boys are so
gross.” Another one said, “Yeah, they don’t use
the toilet. They just pee in the bushes.” Another
girl quickly added, “They pretend they’re going
to pee in the bushes. I think they just like to
look at each others’ willies.” I often wonder what
they might have talked about if there weren’t a
couple of middle-aged men sitting right in front
of them. I have never felt so invisible.
Thirty years later, I have vivid memories
of these bus rides, even though the rest of
the trips faded long ago. To make your own
lasting memories when you visit somewhere, I
recommend that you take the bus!
VOICES! | MARCH 2022 19