Nothing beats a good trip.
PART 1 BUSES
Introduction
It doesn't matter how your day has been or how it's gone. If you fall over, you lose all sense of dignity, pride, confidence, and happiness. Nothing, no one, can help you. No one sees the situation. Everyone’s felt it, but we all think the best option is for you to just get up and get going. I'll tell you a few stories to illustrate.
Last week, I had probably one of the most miserable days I've had in a while. It started with a long day of interviews. Let’s just say they weren’t going too well. I had a rough time at one of them, and by the end of it, I was frustrated. To top it off, my train was cancelled. Or maybe it was a tube. Anyway, I had to catch a bus. Now, I prefer sitting on the top deck of a bus—because who wouldn’t? If it's a single-decker, fine. If it's a double-decker, I feel like you have to explore.
So there I was, sitting on the top floor of the bus. I pressed the button for my stop, but I think I waited too long to get up. Normally, you should try to get downstairs before the bus stops. That gives you the optimal time to get off. But you’re told not to do that because, well, moving while something else is moving is a bad idea—you might hurt yourself. So I waited until the bus had stopped. I heard the doors open and thought, "Oh no, I’m going to miss my stop."
It was raining, which made the day feel even more dreary. I ran down the stairs—well, not really "ran." I made it down the first two steps and then—whoops—down I went. I tumbled the rest of the way down. It wasn’t fun, and honestly, I felt like an idiot.
What I should’ve done was slow down, take my time, and maybe try pulling the doors open. But no, I didn’t have enough time to think about that. As I rushed down, I knew this wasn’t going to end well. I hadn’t realised how many stops we’d made before mine. I was kind of in the zone, just zoning out, and didn't notice how many people had gotten on the bus.
Have you ever been on a bus when it’s completely packed, and you’re sure they shouldn’t let anyone else on? This driver had a different idea. He seemed to think, "We can fit more people in!" By the time I had fallen down the stairs, I didn’t even hit the floor. I just landed on some legs—people’s legs that were sticking out into the aisle. My head hit the floor, and my legs were up in the air. Not exactly the most graceful fall.
To make it worse, I missed my stop. Naturally, no one helped me. Everyone just looked at me like I was an idiot. No one ever helps when something like this happens. I’ve passed out on buses before, and the reaction is always the same—people just look at you like, "What’s wrong with you? Get yourself together." So there I was, lying on the bus, trying to get up and feeling totally mortified.
This made me think—it’s so much worse when no one acknowledges what happens to you. If at least one person had looked at me and said, "You okay?" it wouldn’t have felt as bad. But nope, nothing. Just me and my pride, both on the floor. Once you fall over there, there’s no winning. You are embarrassed for as long as it takes to never see these people ever again, which could be hours. Unlikely, you won’t be on a bus for hours, but you never know. know.