Morning Ride

Morning  Ride

After three straight years of practicing bat-ride in buses, which indeed is long enough an amount of time to make a person, who spends hours a day commuting between an educational establishment and home, become a human of another kind; a human bat. For I believe the bus is a special world, follow me along these lines and get to see what it is like to take the bus at an ungodly hour in the morning and act bat. You know, it is easy to find yourself just like that without really being conscious that you are in the process of transforming into a bat-man.

How does one become a bat in a bus?

Don’t worry; the answer won’t come down on your head like a ton of bricks. It’s simple though; buses for people to get to their workplace, school or wherever they go at that early time of the day -which usually is in the neighborhood of 6:00 AM- are a rare thing. No surprise then that the morning bus should get crammed and it takes luck and guts and energy to sandwich yourself in a vehicle that looks like a bus when you see it coming. But pray! It’s a different world inside. Presto! The first thing that happens after you are successfully and neatly stocked in and the operator slams the automatic doors closed by batting a red button is that your lungs start longing for half a square meter of oxygen to keep your eyes open and not faint at the sight of the transparent window-screens altogether cutting you off the outer space because the weather within the bus is just a little bit beyond foggy, also because passengers give out hot steam; plenty of it! Well, that is another story for another day. Maybe the weather forecast will comment on it in the evening news. What is really of more importance here is the fact that you have to dodge the molecules of water that fly in the atmosphere and grope the ceiling until you grab the horizontal bar that is usually screwed to the ceiling for purposes of security. It also gives the dignified passengers a golden opportunity to avoid harsh physical contact -which in fact is a source of great evil … the other day two people entangled in a fight for rubbing shoulders- and make a comfortable journey.

So now that your hands are up and you are held against your will, tied to the cold horizontal bar like your fellow grim-faced morning passengers, the bus hits the road again and you get pushed ahead little by little leaving a foothold for the morning riders to get in and share the cozy atmosphere.

Sometimes people seem to forget to move their weight for some unknown reasons. Not long ago, I happened to trap myself in a real crowded morning bus and as I got to pass those who forget that there are rules to follow, of course taking all necessary caution to keep my distance and avoid physical contact especially if the person I am to pass by happens to be a female. I glance at their faces. To my surprise, they are asleep. I do not know if that is because of lack of the vital element in the air or they had a black night! My guess is that those guys probably had been doing the same thing over and over again and as time went by they inevitably picked up the habit of resuming their sleep while holding tight the metal bar, pretty much like sleeping bats but upside down. The same thing is happening to me except that I don’t sleep. I really wonder how they manage to sleep at home after these circumstances have inculcated the habit in question in their systems. They must be giving their wives hard times. Anyways I move on without disturbing their peaceful journey.

Some buses do not even have the bar which is an exigency of life and a luxury in case you do not have a seat, especially those busted buses that I would never allow into circulation if I were the company CEO. No wonder why so many people avoid those buses; not only do they lack the equipment necessary for people to bat-ride but let out a real thick black smoke any time the operator stamps on the gas pedal after dropping off a passenger and closing the automatic doors.

If you do not know about that you’d better get my warnings. If you are planning to visit the place and take a walk, I recommend that you wear an anti-gas mask. It is a biological war in a very civilized manner; no casualties at all, but mind you it’s lethal… My mind thinks about twenty things at once. The idea of buying an anti-gas mask is engrossing me -knowing that the climate change is already a threat to our peaceful life on this planet, a bus with excessive toxic smoke emission would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back- but considering my current financial situation, it would be better to let it drop.

The idea of looking back to see the number of people gluing their hands to the bar is irresistibly taking hold of my brain, so I can not help twist my neck and at that point I almost wish it was not broken. Though it gives me some pain, I managed to turn my head and take a look. I get some stares from faces I can barely recognize. The number of hands moving towards me is multiplying and this automatically pushes me forward and I suddenly am between the driver and the front side door.

Just then a guy behind me wakes up. He shakes his head in disbelief, rubs his eyes with the back of his hand and is on the brink of losing balance. He leans on a seat to look through the window but can not see much. He wipes the window with one hand while still holding to the bar with the other. Suddenly, his face wears a strange and unmistakable expression; he must have missed his stop. He fumbles, looks around him and jumps to the door. Thankfully the operator makes sure the doors are closed first thing, otherwise so many people would have committed suicide inadvertently.

I really wonder how these folks will be able to do their jobs knowing that a bus ride of this sort will make a person sound or look as if they are addicted to hard drugs. I myself started to feel the blow; my performance at school is lately plunging and the morning bus ride is to blame.

I really did not plan for this, but I can say that it is one of the rare moments when circumstances stop conspiring against me for a while; the place where I should stop is just some feet away. There I go. I move on an inch and turn. Now I am face to face with a door covered with streaks of water slowly running down across its windshield. I don’t know what laws of physics water undergoes to get oozy. Well it didn’t take the driver long to get the hint that I am waiting for the door to open. Apparently his mind is still working efficiently; at least he’s got a window by his left side through which he can get some fresh air. I painfully walk down the stairs paying strict attention not to fall.

My lungs are getting instant signals from the brain for there is an urgent need for oxygen. I say to myself: “hold on, you are going to break free right now”. By the second I inhale some air, things start to look gradually as they are. I stand for as long as it takes to catch my breath then walk east, to another bus stop where I can wait for another bus to take me where it goes.

Comments

[Biochemistry]

After read blog topic's related post now I feel my research is almost completed. happy to see that.Thanks to share this brilliant matter.