Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Is public transport worth having?

Is public transport worth having? Yes because it can change your life. I'll tell you three stories.

A couple of years ago, I was in Miami on my own for three days. Three days - that far away in frightening Miami on my own till I met up with my family. The first day, I got on a local bus to go down town and explore. Watching the people on the bus, I noticed s an old man who was chatting with someone else on the other side of the bus, and when she got off he came and sat next to me, which was a bit scary. But he told me all about himself, how he'd come years earlier to the States, and he told me where to visit in Miami, recommending buses to take that would take me all round seeing the best bits. So I followed his advice and for the next two days I saw lots of Miami.
Another story is of when I was at teacher training college in London and would go home on the coach to see my parents in Manchester, sometimes the overnight coach. Sitting sleepily on the coach, the man next to me wanted to talk, but I didn't - I didn't know him and I didn't see a reason to talk with a stranger, and I was happy reading. He moved to the seat behind me. Then he spat at me. I didn't believe it until he'd spat at least twice, and even then it was unbelievable. It wasn't until I changed on to a Manchester bus and he followed me, still spitting, when I exploded, "stop spitting at me!"
The third story is on that coach another time. I was doodling and the young man next to me I sensed was watching, but then he started to write. He got off the coach before me, leaving a post card on his seat. I picked it up and read: he told all his contact details and a little bit about himself, asking me to write. We were both too shy to talk. We might have changed our lives.

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