B.A.L.L.S.: The bus rider and mass transit issues
Welcome to B.A.L.L.S. - Bitching about Life in London and Society - a weekly column that attempts to delve into the smaller irritations in our society.
Issue #1: Those individuals that take up both seats on a busy bus.
Interview one: So I got on to the busy bus the other day, paid my ransom to endure 20 minutes of hot, stuffy, self imposed torture: trying to look cool as I progressed down the rubber mat hall, when the bus decided to jerk forward. So my façade of coolness reverted to an embarrassed grasp at a metal bar, a dropped mitt and shy aversion of my eyes. So, now I'm not cool, I just want to sit, crank the Frank Zappa and zone out. Looking around through the live graveyard of bouncing zombies, I spot an empty seat, but lo, it is not free, it is comfortably holding the beat up gym bag of some low pants, bangs over the eyes, crooked hat shmuck.
I catch ‘his' eye, point to the seat, and he hastily picks up his bag thus allowing me to sit.
Now I ask you: why did I have to ask for a seat? I think it is pretty obvious that the bus is full and that people are standing up. You can tell this because the bus is full and a lot of people are standing up.
Knowing that I was preparing for this article, and actually on the lookout for such a situation, I asked him why he insisted on taking over both seats. He looked at me with a “huh?” so I repeated myself, and he answered:
“I got this bag here”
Well, he certainly did, no argument, but I would hazard that it was producing far too many hormones.
Interview two: Well let's just say that this one ended with a:
“What the F&%K is it to you”
“That pretty much answers that question, thank you”, I replied
Interview three: I think this guy hung with the guy from my first interview. I would love to see these guys hanging at night sometime: two slouching forms working hard at adopting a movie gangster slang type of “Yo, Yo, Yo” ghetto persona, sucking back 50s, rye shots and bottle tokes, wondering what to do with the six bucks that they had, and talking about all the chicks they both pretended to have sex with.
To be fair, we all adopt a persona outside of ourselves. I mean we have to, don't we? I grew up in the 80s wearing concert shirts from concerts I never went to, grew my hair and got my ear pierced. We all want to belong, to find our tribe, to adopt a persona that sustains us until we find ourselves. Tough to do in this society. We have no real traditions, no real history to call our own, and no mythology, so we adopt another cultures identity. Assimilate and mutate, propagate and infiltrate, don the skin of another who is donning the skin of another.
My take: In an effort to hold on to something in ones life, some little bit of control in a society that looks down on you, one may take control of their immediate environment. They may garner some degree of satisfaction at causing unrest to those that are too intimidated to ask them to move their bag. They can at least harbor some satisfaction in the fact that they can influence another.
A neglected dog will often act to initiate the wrath of its owner. Better to receive negative attention than no attention at all.
Conclusion: Well, here we are somewhere between dinosaurs and oblivion, we are just trying to survive as best we can, sometimes we only see what is in front of us, not what is really there. We should all be honored to share this time with each other, this little bit of history that will define our age. Are we the passengers on this bus ride? Or are we the drivers? Perhaps we are neither, maybe, just maybe, we are the beat up gym bag on the seat beside another.
Comments? Look for the group B.A.L.L.S. on Facebook
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
Issue #1: Those individuals that take up both seats on a busy bus.
Interview one: So I got on to the busy bus the other day, paid my ransom to endure 20 minutes of hot, stuffy, self imposed torture: trying to look cool as I progressed down the rubber mat hall, when the bus decided to jerk forward. So my façade of coolness reverted to an embarrassed grasp at a metal bar, a dropped mitt and shy aversion of my eyes. So, now I'm not cool, I just want to sit, crank the Frank Zappa and zone out. Looking around through the live graveyard of bouncing zombies, I spot an empty seat, but lo, it is not free, it is comfortably holding the beat up gym bag of some low pants, bangs over the eyes, crooked hat shmuck.
I catch ‘his' eye, point to the seat, and he hastily picks up his bag thus allowing me to sit.
Now I ask you: why did I have to ask for a seat? I think it is pretty obvious that the bus is full and that people are standing up. You can tell this because the bus is full and a lot of people are standing up.
Knowing that I was preparing for this article, and actually on the lookout for such a situation, I asked him why he insisted on taking over both seats. He looked at me with a “huh?” so I repeated myself, and he answered:
“I got this bag here”
Well, he certainly did, no argument, but I would hazard that it was producing far too many hormones.
Interview two: Well let's just say that this one ended with a:
“What the F&%K is it to you”
“That pretty much answers that question, thank you”, I replied
Interview three: I think this guy hung with the guy from my first interview. I would love to see these guys hanging at night sometime: two slouching forms working hard at adopting a movie gangster slang type of “Yo, Yo, Yo” ghetto persona, sucking back 50s, rye shots and bottle tokes, wondering what to do with the six bucks that they had, and talking about all the chicks they both pretended to have sex with.
To be fair, we all adopt a persona outside of ourselves. I mean we have to, don't we? I grew up in the 80s wearing concert shirts from concerts I never went to, grew my hair and got my ear pierced. We all want to belong, to find our tribe, to adopt a persona that sustains us until we find ourselves. Tough to do in this society. We have no real traditions, no real history to call our own, and no mythology, so we adopt another cultures identity. Assimilate and mutate, propagate and infiltrate, don the skin of another who is donning the skin of another.
My take: In an effort to hold on to something in ones life, some little bit of control in a society that looks down on you, one may take control of their immediate environment. They may garner some degree of satisfaction at causing unrest to those that are too intimidated to ask them to move their bag. They can at least harbor some satisfaction in the fact that they can influence another.
A neglected dog will often act to initiate the wrath of its owner. Better to receive negative attention than no attention at all.
Conclusion: Well, here we are somewhere between dinosaurs and oblivion, we are just trying to survive as best we can, sometimes we only see what is in front of us, not what is really there. We should all be honored to share this time with each other, this little bit of history that will define our age. Are we the passengers on this bus ride? Or are we the drivers? Perhaps we are neither, maybe, just maybe, we are the beat up gym bag on the seat beside another.
Comments? Look for the group B.A.L.L.S. on Facebook
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
