Its reference in the book is 3 ROTH 2:1-51
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This blog entry is protected by copyright © Indigo Roth, 2009-2014
The last time I took a regular bus was going to High School and I used to wait at the stop across the road from my house and most times the bus would stop - as it's supposed to - but often enough it would sail on by leaving me to panic and have to wait on the service bus for 40 minutes and end up late for school. How funny that's the only time you are desperate to get to school when you miss the bus!! G
ReplyDeleteHey G! Yes, this is how they operate. Sleek and speedy, but sneaky. Like a big metal cat. Erm. Indigo x
DeleteBeautifully written, Indigo. I love the juxtaposition between then and now, especially as the gap between the two closes and eventually collapses into the present. It's a wonderful, evocative bit of writing.
ReplyDeleteHey Mike! Thank you Sir, you're too kind. I suspect you put more thought into the structure than I did; but hey, it is what it is. Thank you. No kisses for you --> Indigo
DeleteI commuted on bus most of my life. (San Francisco traffic and parking is horrid.) Most of the time it worked fine. But, when it didn't, it was rage-inducing. This was a real treat to read! You are such a talented writer!
ReplyDeleteHey Linda! Wowsers, I must write more everyday stuff if this is how folk will react. Tho I'm still partial to a stray badger wandering through. Thank you! Indigo x
DeleteAh badgers! Natural enemy of the bus.......
DeleteHey can disable (or fix) an engine quicker than I can eat pizza.
DeleteI spent a lot of time riding buses when I first moved to Rochester but like you, I never did develop a taste for that form of transport. I'm far too impatient. I don't know how Pearl does it on a daily basis! Hope you enjoyed the sunshine at home.
ReplyDeleteHey Paula! You know, those are wise words? How DOES Pearl do it? I'd be frothing at the lips every time I got to the office. And yes, the sunshine was lovely, thanks! Indigo x
DeleteLove the green shoots of prejudice and the flower of outrage. They grow around here, too. I rode the bus at two different periods in my life, in two different cities. It was never quite as unreliable as you describe, or as colorful as Pearl tells it, but I knew driving would be better.
ReplyDeleteHey Nancy! Aah yes, driving. So much nicer! Comfy clean seat, tunes, phone charger, and CHOICE! Glad you enjoyed! Indigo x
DeleteAh buses. Red buses. Double deckers. Open tops full of tourists. Like red pillar boxes or phone boxes they're great as a photo opportunity but in reality not much else I'm afraid. Dirty, noisy, uncomfortable mostly and when that neandethal gets on you know he's going to want that seat beside you.
ReplyDeleteShudder.......
Now foreign buses? Different story! Take Swiss buses.... Lovely, clean, quiet, the sides tilt down towards the pavement to help you get on, They are bendy in the middle, they glide and the drivers even have time to stop for passengers. There's a display of travel time to next stop which is announced as you get close and you get a wave as the bus drives off.
\And best of all.
Timetables link up with trains arrivals and departures - no hanging around except on rare occasions. Bus depot attached to the train station at the local town.
Simples!
Hey Alistair! Ah yes, the nutter on the bus:
Delete"EEEEENID! Has anyone seen my camel?!"
I am a nutter magnet. You have to take your hat off to those damned Switzies, don't you? A fine people, and no mistake. I must get a bank account with them.
Roth
Our buses - both travel and school buses - are so reliable you can set your watch by them. That's good when you want to go someplace fun, but bad when school is at the end of the line.
ReplyDeleteIncredible that your buses can go by without picking up waiting passengers! I'm still dazed by that :)
Hey Jenny! I'm impressed - where on Earth ARE you? Switzerland? Germany? Not America, surely? Indigo
DeleteCanada, eh - in the second smallest province. Maybe that accounts for it.
DeleteSecond smallest? *scratches head* Newfie? Novoscotia?
DeleteNova Scotia, yes, you are a smart one :)
DeleteHa! If only. I knew folk from both a few years back. The Newfie seemed to spend half the year under eighteen feet of snow. =) Indigo x
DeleteHaha! Yes they can get some big storms there. We do once in awhile but not nearly so big or so bad :)
Delete"It is not possible for drivers to maintain their schedules if they always stop to pick up passengers."
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of when we letter carriers were furious at the station manager for failing to provide enough clerks at the window to keep the lines from going out the door. Our customers are livid, we say. This is bad service, we say. The manager says "they're not our customers until they buy something."
Hey Murr! Yep, what a nozzle. A customer is anyone who wants to do business with you, right? Or anyone who has come for service? If you see him again, give him a slap and say Britain has judged him unworthy. Indigo x
DeleteIve done tons of air travel with work. Recently took a bus to boston. From philadelpha. Torture!
ReplyDeleteHey Dr. Z! I think we have had similar experiences; hateful bloody things. Tho I've often wondered if the American bus experience would be different? No? Meh. A pox on them! Roth
DeleteOh, I'm loving the flower of outrage...
ReplyDeleteThis would never do at the Metropolitan Transit System, you know. :-)
I don't have any other comment. I just wanted to rub that in.
Pearl
Hey Pearl! I thumb my nose and make rude raspberry noises at your efficient public transport system. Even if it is full of weirdos. And the folk that join you. Roth x
DeleteI'd like to ring-fence the Reading town bus experience - and highlight the outstanding Bio-Diesel, 24hr, No. 1 service. It's fabulous. Routemasters? Love em, oh dear, I'll go back in my hole now...
ReplyDelete(lovely post, distressing content)
No. 17 (my 7 key is playing-up)
DeleteHey Wendy! You know, I think maybe I'm just a "bad bus" magnet? *sigh* Good job I'm awesome, else it'd get me down as I drive my lil' Astra around Cambridge. Tho the buses stop at coffee houses. Hmmm. Indigo x
DeleteI am blustering and funbling with rage FOR YOU. I. HATE. THE. BUS. Can't say it more clearly than that. Dave and I will walk 3-4 hours in the city just to avoid it.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the transit system there released that statement!! HAHA!
I'm sorry about your bus pain, I know it all too well...
Hey Kato! Thank you for your rage! It is well deserved, I promise you. Grrrr! Indigo x
DeleteSo what part of the UK are you from? I used to travel to Stratford-Upon-Avon all the time for work.
ReplyDeleteI live in Cambridge, Zibbs. Are you from Merrie Olde England, too?
DeletePublic transportation = NO THANK YOU!!!!
ReplyDeleteHey Mia! As someone once said to me about something distateful (I forget what, "I'd rather lick the inside of a city bus". I think it involved curried avocado, so natch. Indigo x
Delete