intimacy & tension on the 23

9.11.2008

As much as I dread the long bus ride home from school through the pot-hole laden streets of north philly, I kinda love it.

Class lets out around 8:20pm and I stand on an interesting corner that perfectly illustrates the dichotomy between the have's & the have-nots. On one corner stands the gateway to academia, full of promise and bright futures for all who enter. On the opposing corner stands a shoddy and run-down public housing complex, full of feral cats and litter. I wonder what it's like to live so close to a major university, yet so far away...

As I wait for the bus, I roll a token between my fingers and suss out the oncoming headlights to see if the bus is anywhere in the distance. Some nights I happen to meet the bus as it rolls up to the corner; some nights I wait, and wait, and wait. Every night, the bus is packed and I can hardly get on. Remember my blog about personal space? Personal space does not exist on the bus; only intimacy and tension exist on the bus, and I find it such an interesting combo.

People breathe, sneeze and cough all over one another; people step on, sit on and fall on one another; people stare at each other with suspicion, curiosity and malice, but most of all, and despite all of the above, people HELP one another. It's such a fascinating dynamic. It's like were all a group of strangers lurching through the city streets in a gigantic tin can, kind of suspicious and curious about each other, but as soon as someone needs help, we come together like a family on Thanksgiving.

If someone is trying to exit through the back door and the door won't open, we all yell "BACK DOOR" to the driver to alert her/him and help the rider exit safely. If someone is trying to get to the back of the bus to find their kids, we all yield. If someone sneezes, it usually lands on at least 5 other people, and those 5 people are the first ones to "bless" the sneezer. The other day a woman boarded the packed bus and in loud voice said, "Hello everyone, how's everyone doin'?" And everyone acknowledged her with a "just fine and y'self?" I love this kind of stuff; I love the dynamic of people shoved up against one another in an anonymous yet intimate setting. It can suck, don't get me wrong, but more often than not, something priceless happens that leaves me with a smile... then suspicion, then a smile, and so on...

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, that was such a descriptive blog I can almost smell the mustiness of the bus through my laptop.

I always loved the people on the trolley who would yield their seats to an elderly rider or a woman who looked like she needed a nice gesture.