A Note On Busses
Don't worry! I'm still here! Just biding my time... or maybe just being lazy and putting things off to watch youtube videos instead of doing anything mildly productive. But I have sat myself down, face to face with my laptop, ready to do this.
This post will be centred around something that has been quite intertwined with my life recently: The King County Bus System. This may sound like a list of complaints but let's get one thing straight: The system runs like a well oiled machine in comparison to whatever weird, non-sensical, out-of-sync rubbish bus system we have at home. I have tried to ride the busses in Cape Town. My maiden voyage included me taking a train to town, going to the bus station, not understanding what on earth was going on or where I was supposed to stand or even which bus I was supposed to take, swearing profusely and then calling dad in tears to please come and pick me up. And this was after I had asked people for help and attempted using my phone as an aid. No dice.
So I really appreciate this bus system. The drivers are (usually) helpful and there are signs all over the city about which busses stop where which is fab. And I can't thank the planners of these cities enough for making everything in grid format. If you can play battleships, you can navigate these cities, i'm being serious. I do, however, have a couple of qualms...
1) My Fellow Bus Companions. It's true, friendly people are great and by far superior to grumpy, snappy people. It's likely that if you sit down on a bus in King County, someone near you will be friendly and help you out if you need some advice on stops. But, gee, have I been seated near some weird friendly people. Which means that not only do they talk to you often, but the content of the conversations raise some eyebrows. These people are strangers not only because I don't know them but also because they are STRANGE. One time, a large group of old European men got onto the bus, they all had massive bags and were shouting at each other I assume about who was sitting where due to all the pointing. They got off after about two stops. I don't think we travelled more than a kilometre. Another time a group of high school students trundled in and for about 15 minutes three girls shouted (they were sitting right next to each other, I would just like to mention) about how they liked book stores because of the piece and quiet. I've also been lucky enough to share a bus with a skate-boarder who wasn't keen to get off his skate-board despite his severe lack of skill. He slowly rolled to his seat kind of trying to push himself forward with the momentum of his own body. It did not work. Don't even talk to me about the fact that the music that we could all here through his earphones was terrible. These people, amongst others, are the kinds of people I have been sitting with. It's entertaining if nothing else.
2) Catching The Right Bus. You'd think that this would be relatively simple. Once you've got your bus number, just wait by the sign with the number printed on it and when your bus comes, hop on! Easy! Not so much. In some places the bus that is going to where you want to go comes from the same direction as the bus coming from where you want to go. This means that I have hopped onto a bus thinking that I am home free only to find that I am going in the complete wrong direction. This means that I have spent a great deal of time waiting in an empty bus for the driver to finish their cigarette before turning around and going in the other direction. Which takes a significant chunk out of a day, I can tell you that. Busses can also plot against one. One being me. A bus can SAY that they will be coming at a specific time to a specific stop only to be replaced by ANOTHER bus. This means that I have hopped onto the wrong bus and gone to the Actual Middle of Nowhere before realising my mistake. This means, getting off at the next stop and waiting for a bus to come in the other direction to take you back to where you started and then you have to get on to the initial right bus. It's safe to say I was a tad late for my work that day. Luckily I am working with someone massively understanding who even offered to rescue me from Actual Middle of Nowhere. Don't even get me started on when you're sitting on the bus and then you see another bus pull up besides yours with the number of your bus clearly printed all over it. All stations panic at that point.
3) Getting Of At The Right Stop. I have managed to get myself into a couple of tight spots in terms of getting off in the right place. The busses do try to make this easy for you. Not only do they have the next stop practically written in lights on a little screen at the front but they also have a pre-recorded voice telling you what the next stop will be. The only small problem with this is that my landmarks don't really coincide with the busses landmarks. For example: If I have to get off the bus at Taco Time, the pre-recorded voice does not say "Next stop: Taco Time" it says "Next stop: 85th Street and 122nd Ave North East" and I have to have my wits about me enough to know what that means. All too often I have passed my intended stop and only realised because my landmark only became visible when we passed it. This means getting off at the very next stop and legging it. Not ideal but it could be worse.
4) The Fee. Luckily, because I am a student, I pay a reduced fee, $1,50 as apposed to $2,50. Pretty neat! My one small problem is that often bus drivers don't believe that I am 18 and will ask me "Are you over 18?" To which I will obviously reply "Yes" because I am panicking and stupid and now I have to pay the full fee. This does not happen often, luckily. Some of these things only need to happen a couple of times before I have a system in place. My current scheme is to have the answer "I am 18" lined up as the answer to any fee-related question. My second issue with payment is the payment method. There is a slot for notes and a slot for coins and of course I get them mixed up. And of course I drop all my little pennies (1 cent pieces) all over the floor when that happens. This involves scrabbling around for a couple of seconds apologising profusely before picking yourself up and walking to your seat the picture of calm elegance whilst inside you are cursing yourself non-stop.
Despite all these small inconveniences I think I have managed to get myself around more or less alright. And if I make a mistake, that's okay because either I just have to say to the driver "I'm awfully sorry to bother you but.." and they immediately know that I'm foreign and I get some proper sympathy or I just continue my life knowing that I made it onto someone else's "Crazy People On The Bus" list.
This post will be centred around something that has been quite intertwined with my life recently: The King County Bus System. This may sound like a list of complaints but let's get one thing straight: The system runs like a well oiled machine in comparison to whatever weird, non-sensical, out-of-sync rubbish bus system we have at home. I have tried to ride the busses in Cape Town. My maiden voyage included me taking a train to town, going to the bus station, not understanding what on earth was going on or where I was supposed to stand or even which bus I was supposed to take, swearing profusely and then calling dad in tears to please come and pick me up. And this was after I had asked people for help and attempted using my phone as an aid. No dice.
So I really appreciate this bus system. The drivers are (usually) helpful and there are signs all over the city about which busses stop where which is fab. And I can't thank the planners of these cities enough for making everything in grid format. If you can play battleships, you can navigate these cities, i'm being serious. I do, however, have a couple of qualms...
1) My Fellow Bus Companions. It's true, friendly people are great and by far superior to grumpy, snappy people. It's likely that if you sit down on a bus in King County, someone near you will be friendly and help you out if you need some advice on stops. But, gee, have I been seated near some weird friendly people. Which means that not only do they talk to you often, but the content of the conversations raise some eyebrows. These people are strangers not only because I don't know them but also because they are STRANGE. One time, a large group of old European men got onto the bus, they all had massive bags and were shouting at each other I assume about who was sitting where due to all the pointing. They got off after about two stops. I don't think we travelled more than a kilometre. Another time a group of high school students trundled in and for about 15 minutes three girls shouted (they were sitting right next to each other, I would just like to mention) about how they liked book stores because of the piece and quiet. I've also been lucky enough to share a bus with a skate-boarder who wasn't keen to get off his skate-board despite his severe lack of skill. He slowly rolled to his seat kind of trying to push himself forward with the momentum of his own body. It did not work. Don't even talk to me about the fact that the music that we could all here through his earphones was terrible. These people, amongst others, are the kinds of people I have been sitting with. It's entertaining if nothing else.
2) Catching The Right Bus. You'd think that this would be relatively simple. Once you've got your bus number, just wait by the sign with the number printed on it and when your bus comes, hop on! Easy! Not so much. In some places the bus that is going to where you want to go comes from the same direction as the bus coming from where you want to go. This means that I have hopped onto a bus thinking that I am home free only to find that I am going in the complete wrong direction. This means that I have spent a great deal of time waiting in an empty bus for the driver to finish their cigarette before turning around and going in the other direction. Which takes a significant chunk out of a day, I can tell you that. Busses can also plot against one. One being me. A bus can SAY that they will be coming at a specific time to a specific stop only to be replaced by ANOTHER bus. This means that I have hopped onto the wrong bus and gone to the Actual Middle of Nowhere before realising my mistake. This means, getting off at the next stop and waiting for a bus to come in the other direction to take you back to where you started and then you have to get on to the initial right bus. It's safe to say I was a tad late for my work that day. Luckily I am working with someone massively understanding who even offered to rescue me from Actual Middle of Nowhere. Don't even get me started on when you're sitting on the bus and then you see another bus pull up besides yours with the number of your bus clearly printed all over it. All stations panic at that point.
3) Getting Of At The Right Stop. I have managed to get myself into a couple of tight spots in terms of getting off in the right place. The busses do try to make this easy for you. Not only do they have the next stop practically written in lights on a little screen at the front but they also have a pre-recorded voice telling you what the next stop will be. The only small problem with this is that my landmarks don't really coincide with the busses landmarks. For example: If I have to get off the bus at Taco Time, the pre-recorded voice does not say "Next stop: Taco Time" it says "Next stop: 85th Street and 122nd Ave North East" and I have to have my wits about me enough to know what that means. All too often I have passed my intended stop and only realised because my landmark only became visible when we passed it. This means getting off at the very next stop and legging it. Not ideal but it could be worse.
4) The Fee. Luckily, because I am a student, I pay a reduced fee, $1,50 as apposed to $2,50. Pretty neat! My one small problem is that often bus drivers don't believe that I am 18 and will ask me "Are you over 18?" To which I will obviously reply "Yes" because I am panicking and stupid and now I have to pay the full fee. This does not happen often, luckily. Some of these things only need to happen a couple of times before I have a system in place. My current scheme is to have the answer "I am 18" lined up as the answer to any fee-related question. My second issue with payment is the payment method. There is a slot for notes and a slot for coins and of course I get them mixed up. And of course I drop all my little pennies (1 cent pieces) all over the floor when that happens. This involves scrabbling around for a couple of seconds apologising profusely before picking yourself up and walking to your seat the picture of calm elegance whilst inside you are cursing yourself non-stop.
Despite all these small inconveniences I think I have managed to get myself around more or less alright. And if I make a mistake, that's okay because either I just have to say to the driver "I'm awfully sorry to bother you but.." and they immediately know that I'm foreign and I get some proper sympathy or I just continue my life knowing that I made it onto someone else's "Crazy People On The Bus" list.
Here's a sneaky picture I took from inside the bus to give you an idea. How clean? Rather impressive. Also notice how the walls in one place look accordion-ish? That's because its really long and that makes it easier to go around corners, HOW COOL???
Anyway, I love and miss you all as always.
Until next time,
Jen x
Hey Jen, Sounds like you may yet graduate from Bus Life Orientation 101! I don't know if the UK bus system operates at a higher or lower difficulty grade, but at least be forewarned that the door is on the opposite side! And perhaps I should mention that if you are looking forward to hearing your mother tongue, think again. The Devonian/Cornish pastiche is just as colourful as Cape, only different!
ReplyDeleteWe love your posts!! Cheers, Dad
Thanks dad, I look forward to it x
DeleteBusses. In the days when I lived in London there were pea soup fogs and you could not see you hand in front of you face, let alone the number of the bus approaching - and don't even mention landmarks. Frequently I would get lost and there were no cell phones to cry Help, come and fetch me! It would not have helped anyway as one did not know where one was! One thing about Cape Town is The Mountain. You cannot not know where you are, because find the Mountain and you know in which direction to steer. Once in London on a clear day I hopped off a bus at the correct place to join a friend for lunch at his flat and I did not know which was North. Unlike Aunty Margs I never thought to obtain a compass which would have helped. So I asked a London Bobby win which direction Marble Arch was, When he told me with puzzled look on his face as I was MILES away from it I knew where to ask and found the flat easily.
ReplyDeleteThe bus system in London is great and as long as you know your North from your South you are OK. So obtain a cheap compass. they are to be had a.t the shop of the Science Museum complete with a temperature gauge (miniature of course) I really could sympathise with you taking busses in a strange town especially one without a Mountain.
Love Gran and The Mountain (which is looking stunning at the moment) I would have put a pic of the Mountain here but still have to learn how. Love Gran xxx
Thankd Granny! My sense of direction is terrible, even in Cape Town! Somehow your cool mountain trick doesn't really work for me....
ReplyDelete