I chose public transport after using a car for fifteen years. There were many reasons - traffic jams, lines at petrol pumps, parking space crunch, damage to my car by rash drivers and children playing cricket in the parking lot, traffic police needing money, and wisdom. The wisdom came with age. I understood that I should not help use up oil for commuting to and from work alone every day, if the future generations were to have any oil. You must have noticed that none of the reasons is having fun. Well, it was a bonus.
Never before in my life had I had the right of the way when it came to me versus a bus or a truck (come to think of it, any vehicle; no other driver was as gentlemanly or timid as I). Now all vehicles give me the right of the way when I am riding a bus. I do not have to inhale the exhaust of buses and trucks any more. I ride at a higher altitude, breathing pure (!) air.
There are some fun things too. I remember once a biker was following my bus quite close behind. Suddenly the bus driver stepped on the brake and came to a sudden halt. The biker must have braked too, but not fast enough. His front wheel went under the back edge of the bus' body. I was sitting on the last seat and could watch the biker. The expressions on his face were as much as his antics to get the wheel out. The wheel came off only when the bus started moving again, its driver oblivious of the drama at his back end.
I remember another occasion when a smart guy had a tiff with the conductor. He was still talking, proving his smartness, when his destination drew near. He started down the steps, still looking at the conductor and talking.
'What if he does not count the steps and wait on the last step until the bus stops' I thought. I did not want to say anything to him, lest he diverted his attention from the conductor to me.
Just as I was thinking this, he stepped off the last step, did not find any foothold, looked down, found ground rushing back under the foot, hurriedly climbed up the steps and shut up. Studying his face and watching antics were equally rewarding.
Never before in my life had I had the right of the way when it came to me versus a bus or a truck (come to think of it, any vehicle; no other driver was as gentlemanly or timid as I). Now all vehicles give me the right of the way when I am riding a bus. I do not have to inhale the exhaust of buses and trucks any more. I ride at a higher altitude, breathing pure (!) air.
There are some fun things too. I remember once a biker was following my bus quite close behind. Suddenly the bus driver stepped on the brake and came to a sudden halt. The biker must have braked too, but not fast enough. His front wheel went under the back edge of the bus' body. I was sitting on the last seat and could watch the biker. The expressions on his face were as much as his antics to get the wheel out. The wheel came off only when the bus started moving again, its driver oblivious of the drama at his back end.
I remember another occasion when a smart guy had a tiff with the conductor. He was still talking, proving his smartness, when his destination drew near. He started down the steps, still looking at the conductor and talking.
'What if he does not count the steps and wait on the last step until the bus stops' I thought. I did not want to say anything to him, lest he diverted his attention from the conductor to me.
Just as I was thinking this, he stepped off the last step, did not find any foothold, looked down, found ground rushing back under the foot, hurriedly climbed up the steps and shut up. Studying his face and watching antics were equally rewarding.
