Sardines

I take the bus to and from work each day, and for the most part, using public transportation has been a good exerperience. I can read, sleep, do KenKen puzzles (10x more fun than sudokus!), snack or pretty much whatever I want while commuting.

On the way home, however, the buses are usually more crowded, and I don't always get the best seat. Definitely not this bad--phew!--but often standing room only.

{Image from easytravelreport.com}

Last week I boarded at my stop to go home and started moving to the back in hopes of finding an empty seat. It was my lucky day - there was one spot left on a 4-seat bench! The bench went like this: backpack, man, empty spot, divider, woman, woman.

I asked the man, "Do you mind if I sit here?"

The man just looked at me. He didn't say yes, but he didn't say no either, so I took that as a green light to sit down. It was going to be pretty tight though, since the man had his backpack on the seat next to him. I'm small, but not 8 inches small, so I asked him if he would mind putting his bag on his lap so there would be more room.

To this he said, "No."

I was kind of stunned. Most people I've encountered on the bus are acutally very polite and are willing to give up their seat entirely, let alone move a bag.

I said, "Okay......" and just stood there for a few seconds. Then I decided I could either squish in next to him in the tiny seat, which would be uncomfortable - or stay standing, which would also be uncomfortable.

I choose to sit, and the man and I rode smashed together all the way until my stop. Very awkward, but I pretended like I didn't care. I took out my book, started reading and smiled all the way home :)