31 August 2006

Pedestrian

Okay, I'm about to reveal some very personal information here: I catch the 103 to work and I catch the 881 home. I can't explain why I catch two different buses. It's just too much. Oh, okay - it's because I like to travel in a loop if I can.

Anyway.

This morning I got on the 103 at my usual stop. And the bus meandered along its usual route while I read in Vanity Fair about Sandra Bullock's magically perfect life until the bus driver veered off and took the turn that the 107 usually would. One of the regular passengers noticed the mistake and walked up to the driver to point it out. This sometimes happens. Bus drivers new to a route take the occasional wrong turn and a friendly passenger points out their mistake and the bus does the biggest 3-point turn you've ever seen on a quiet suburban street and calm and order is restored to the world.

However, what happened next was that the driver started yelling that he was driving the 107 and nobody was going to tell him what bloody route he was supposed to be driving. Then another odd-looking man rushed down from the front of the bus and said (to the driver), "What's your name? I want your name! I'm going to report you."

Why in every scene is there always someone who's going to report someone else? He was probably a rubbish monitor in primary school.

So in the ensuing argy-bargy we all got off the bus, as it seemed like the safest and most sensible thing to do, and walked across the highway to wait for the next, real 103 while the fake 103 continued along the 107 route. For some reason the school monitor walked along the highway and got on the bus two or three stops later at which point he said to the friendly driver of the real 103, "We've all been kicked off a bus. I'll be reporting that driver, you know."

But can I just say this: what a great issue of Vanity Fair! There was an article on plagiarism, which reminded me how much I enjoyed this book by Neal Bowers, and an article on the erosion of civil rights in the UK, which I read while the spirit of Bloody Ern thundered its outraged agreement in my ear.

Also, Sandra Bullock: siiiigh.

7 comments:

Philosophical Karen said...

At least the bus didn't have a bomb on it.

Anonymous said...

Well Karen it might have! Perhaps they all got off in the nick of time!! Haze, this kind of stuff never happens to me; I never enjoy Vanity fair (the mag, not the novel, the novel is great, I always enjoy that.

hazelblackberry said...

k - You've read Vanity Fair (the novel, not the mag ect) more than once? Sucker for punishment.

karen - I think the bus contained a few ticking timebombs in human form.

Anonymous said...

looove wht, and it was one of the few tv serialisations that I thought were well done also - 100% on all those insipid jane austen movies - I like Jane austen, I just don't like what Emma thompson does to them

Anonymous said...

Is everyone missing the Sandra Bullock - crazy bus antics (a la the movie 'Speed') link?

Or is it just way too obvious to comment on? (and hence the bomb on the bus reference?)

hazelblackberry said...

Yes, anonymous, I think that was the point of Karen's comment.

Anything else would be overkill.

(Not that that has stopped me in the past...)

Anonymous said...

I thought I was the only Sandra Bullock fan in Australia, since no one I know likes her. Nice to read that someone else shares my fanship.