The bus riders, although alone not making a peep, let out a collective groan that was quite audible. Why have we stopped?, the contorted faces seemed to be asking. The heavy rain had forced them to sit in bumper to bumper traffic, making the first quarter-mile of their long commute home take nearly an hour. Now, only five minutes after finally starting to move, Jeff (or ‘Driver!’ as they called him) had brought the bus to a complete stop on the side of the highway. The anger was as palpable as the stale bus air.
Jeff’s friend and fellow ‘Driver!’ John’s bus had broken down and, as they usually did for each other, Jeff had pulled over in front of the broken vehicle to pick up as many of John’s passengers as he could fit.
“I’m actually ’standing room only’”, Jeff said to his tired friend, who had dashed through the rain and now stood at the working bus’ door. “But I’ll take anyone who can squeeze into the aisle.”
“Alright.” John said, wiping a mixture of sweat and rain from his brow. Jeff couldn’t even imagine the position John was in; having to sit in a broken bus, alone, with businessmen looking to take out the failures of their day on someone.
The new passengers ran onto the bus, some holding damp newspapers over their head in vain. They were aware that they would have to stand for the next hour, but were happy enough to be out of the cold rain. The bus’ original passengers were not at all happy to see these intruders.
“BUT WE’RE FULL!” yelled one lady, sitting comfortably in the wide handicap seat, although having no disability to speak of. She followed with a loud sigh.
Jeff ignored her, as the standees packed in. Although a moment ago the newcomers were giving no end of hell to John, now they were humbled; being foreign to their current surroundings and trying to avoid making anyone sitting-down upset. One let his wet hair drip on someone’s seat and quickly, profusely, apologized. The last one on was a young girl about eight months pregnant, if not more. She stood behind the driver’s seat and hugged herself, trying to warm up. Jeff figured someone would get up for her and calmly began pulling the bus back onto the road.
But no one did.
He was two exits farther down the highway when he realized that she was still standing behind him, trying to warm up. He wanted to vomit. And then drive the bus into a ditch. And then kick these fuckers in the face as they walked out. It was as if every bad thought he had ever had about his riders was just confirmed. He had to unclench his teeth before he could turn around and talk to her.
“Here”, he said, sadly, pointing to the bus’s steps “you can sit there, you’re not supposed to, but it’s okay…”
She smiled at him and began looking strategically at the steps, wondering how to situate her pregnant body. It was a daunting task and one that she had only half completed when Jeff heard a voice from three rows back.
“Are you serious, get up…”, it was a young couple seated together. The woman had taken out one of her husband’s earphones and now looked at him in anger. Her head shot over to the pregnant woman, “Here, you can sit here“, she said to her, turning back to her husband, her eyes filled with disdain for the idea not having been his own. He quickly stood up and let the pregnant girl take his seat, even holding her bag as she got comfortable. The two ladies started making small talk.
Jeff slowed the bus down a touch as he passed another exit.
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