BUS-ted.

There have been a couple of consequences of my misfortune from last Saturday. First of all, the destruction of my camera means that there are now no pictures on the front page of this blog for the first time in as long as I can remember (those who want photographic enticements can flick through the archives). Another was that I actually had to get a bus to work the first two days of this week. Now that was an experience in itself.

First of all, public transport in these parts (the train to Brisbane being the exception), is notoriously unreliable. This is an even bigger problem for me, given that I'm used to going virtually everywhere under my own steam. Having to suddenly rely on the time somebody else is going to show up is surprisingly stressful. Then, of course, on a bus you're also susceptible to traffic jams. Thankfully it's all been relatively benign this week (glad I didn't attempt it in the school holidays), but it's still a big step down from being immune to traffic jams on my bike.

Let's also not forget the environment of the bus itself. I'm referring to what one experiences once they board. Many years ago, someone on the old bicycleforum site compared a suburban train to a public urinal, and the same comparison can be expanded to a suburban bus. Everyone generally stares at the floor, or their lap, or out the window if they're sitting on that side, anything to avoid looking at each other. There seems to be a genuine fear that the other person might actually talk to them. This isn't so bad if you have something to read, but I forgot to bring a book the second day. Then you've got the idiots who want to argue with the bus driver about where the bus is actually going (actually, they may have a point, the bus driver managed to miss my stop on the way to work on Tuesday). The few people on the bus who do engage in conversation (i.e. those who already know each other) insist on doing so at the top of their voice, as if anybody in the next suburb really cares what they have to say.

I could go on and on, suffice to say that I was glad to get back on the bike this morning. Right now I'm only riding to work, not much, but hopefully I can build for the weekend. On the bike I'm free to look at whatever I like, the bike offers me the reliability that public transport does not, it offers me the peace that people yelling at each other do not, in short, it lets me live! And as I move closer to acquiring a new steed, I make yet another vow to be more careful, to never have to subject myself to those other consequences in the future. Of course, I've made that vow before.