Bus troubles

There were some things that I needed from the city. After that I had physical therapy, which would cost me a lot of energy already, so I decided to take the bus into the city to save up on some energy. In retrospect I should’ve taken the bicycle…

I got my things together and went outside. It was pretty warm outside, which I didn’t expect, so I wasn’t really dressed for the occasion. On the way to the bus I took off my jacket. The electric sign at the bus stop said that it would be just 5 minutes until the next bus would arrive. Perfect. I sat down and waited. And waited… And waited…

The electric sign started to say that there was a bit of a delay and added another minute… A minute later it did that again… And again… In the meanwhile people started to gather around the bus stop and I started to get a bit restless, as I didn’t know if the bus was going to show up at all anymore.

Two busses drove by on the other side of the road and still there was nothing for us. Then a 999 ‘out of service’ bus drove by. The reason for it to be out of service can be anything, but most of the time it means something happened (at least around here), so I got even more restless. Then another 999 drove by. A few minutes later a fire truck drove by. Now I was sure something must’ve happened.

It was 20 minutes later since I first arrived at the bus stop, that a bus finally arrived. For some cities this is a normal waiting time, but not where I live, so everyone was in a bad mood. When the bus opened, it quickly became clear that indeed there was a bus that broke down just a few stops back (we were near a turn in the road with bushes and trees, which we couldn’t see around, that’s why we didn’t know sooner).

I let the people around me go in first. The last person to enter the bus, before me, was a man. This man wasn’t fat, but he was a bit bigger built than the people in front of him, so he gently moved a perambulator (you know, a thing where you can lay a baby in and walk around with it…) just about 5 cm to the side, so that he could pass. I didn’t think anything of this, as he was so gentle, even the simple act of walking the child over a sidewalk with some loose stones would cause more trouble than the gentle movement that man caused.

The mother of the child, on the other hand, had a totally different view on this. If looks could kill, that man would’ve died a horrible death and she said: “What do you think you’re doing?! That’s a living thing in there you know! You don’t just shove that to the side!”

The man looked at her, completely perplexed, and said: “Well… I just needed to pass.” After this the woman kept telling him he was wrong (while I entered the bus too) and she went on, yelling about how people should realise that the bus was full and that we should’ve just waited for another bus. I got very anxious of this woman and wanted nothing more than to just leave the bus. The only thing was, I had physical therapy planned after my trip to the city and couldn’t afford to wait for another bus, if one was coming at all. Also, I was on the bus to save energy, not to waste same more.

The man somehow remained calm and asked her why she couldn’t leave the bus herself if she was this bothered by the crowd. She told him she had a baby with her and that she was one of the people in the broken bus. I didn’t see how being a person in the broken bus would give her more reason to enter that bus than us, as we would have to wait the same amount of time as her. It’s not nice to be in a broken bus, but that doesn’t give you more rights to the next one. Having a baby might, but she has no idea what the reasons of the other people are for entering the bus! Somehow she claimed all the right to the bus and we should’ve just stayed away and she just didn’t stop ranting to this poor man about it. The man simply listened, hoping that she would quit. She didn’t.

This is where my frustration won the battle with my anxiousness. I had had it with this woman who somehow seemed to think she was the most important person in the world and everyone should just give her space, just because her baby got moved very gently for 5 centimetres. I said: “Well sorry miss, but I’m Chronicly Fatigued and was taking this bus to save energy. Instead, I’ve waited 20 minutes to just get on a bus, which has cost me a lot of energy I didn’t account for. If I had to waste more energy, I wouldn’t be able to do anything after going into the city anymore. So no madam, I’m not intending to leave the bus, thank you very much.” She looked at me perplexed and said: “Well… Excuse me madam…”

I didn’t care anymore. At least she didn’t say anything anymore for the rest of the bus ride. She had upset the whole of the bus and I would have none of it. I do agree people are allowed to speak up for themselves, but you can’t just demand the world for yourself, just because you have a baby, if you have no idea what the others are there for. Besides, there was plenty of space in the bus for even a few more people (I even managed to take a seat!), after that baby was moved just 5 centimetres to create a bit of walking space to walk towards the open spot.

This whole ordeal had left me with a lot of emotions and very little energy. I was very restless and nervous, as the crowd and the woman had a great impact on me. I was also very angry at the woman and I felt bad for the poor man who got a flood of words over him for a simple act that harmed nobody. I bought my stuff in the city while still shaking. After I was done buying my stuff, I asked my sister to pick me up by car, as I didn’t dare hope for another bus again for the rest of the day. This also bought me some rest time at home before going to physical therapy. I’m glad for that, since I had no idea how else I was supposed to get that much needed resting time.

Such a small thing as wanting to go into the city for 30 minutes turned into all of this. This is how fast a day can sometimes suddenly turn around for me…