A little Madeline?

Another child commuter, on her way to school, uniform, hair cut all she is missing is the hat and she would be Madeline from the books.  Although with a red hair ribbon perhaps it would be Matilda?

She travels with her father and most mornings she has a sunny disposition  and a bounce in her step that brightens my mood just to see.

In an odd coincidence her name is the same as the pretty in pink bunny owning commuter, and no it isn't either of the names beginning with M already mentioned.. 

a fortuitous decision

Standing waiting for the bus yesterday morning I was mulling over the mild positives and the minor irritations.  Why at this particular moment this thought ?  Well because the bus I was waiting for was there..it had arrived early all its passengers had got off but it was not yet time for it to depart and nor was I yet able to get on.

Now some drivers are quite content in such a position to let the waiting passengers on and wait for the set departure time in relative comfort.  Such consideration is a mild positive.  Others subject to the compulsion of a smoking habit prefer to use the time for that and leave the bus for a moment or two of indulgence.  That is a minor irritation, a seat so near yet inaccessible.

Now the day before was the first day of the working week for most so the day to buy a weeks ticket on the bus for those that purchase in that unit.  That takes just a little bit longer at each stop a minor irritation such small delays and as I once did the same I have no reason to scorn it as a choice.  However, it had added just enough time for the red bus to be pulling away as the black arrived at the stop I make the change and that was irritating, it is only a ten minuet wait but as I have mentioned before that is my ten  minutes and they all add up.

So yesterday looked like having the same disappointing result, the red bus had left the stop and was a as far ahead as the next set of traffic lights.  Recalling a fellow travellers remark on the same situation previously that the black bus had caught up to the red and passed it I chose to stop on the black bus and find out.

Sure enough at the tunnel style stop, where purple lady number three used to be, the red bus was just sitting, it was obviously a tad ahead of its time at that point and the black bus and I went on past. I  got off at place of the littering incident comfortably ahead of the red bus ready to catch it as it arrived.  I was feeling quite pleased with myself.

That pleasure expanded exponential when I saw the shoe and bag sales lady waiting at the stop.  I have not, since she moved home to cut her journey to work down to one bus from two seen her to talk to, although I have seen her in passing once or twice.  Wide smiles on both our faces we settled down on the red bus, side by side for some concentrated catching up.  She was looking so much happier with a much better work life balance.

Although the journey was not much time at all for our conversation there was still time for laughter and sympathy and I bid her farewell at my stop with a lighter step at the renewed acquaintance and a gentle satisfaction at a decision well made.

This morning? An early seat on the bus and the usual change over point all flowing smoothly but without quite the delight of yesterday.  

A question of windows.

open or shut. When it gets hot or even warm on the bus someone invariably opens a window to let in some air.  However they assume when they get off that the entry of air is still a requirement and rarely shut them again.

Deciding to open a window is apparently a decision easily made but to close it another matter entirely. It appears to depend on a number of factors.  If you saw whoever opened it and they just got off then no problem.

If the window is above your head then no problem, possession is nine tenths of the closing decision .

But if the window generating the gale around your ears is a few seats away or on the other side of the bus, or you do not know which fresh air fiend opened it then the question of right to close is more difficult.

Plus for safely sake you need to wait till the bus has stopped before standing and reaching to close. And there is no subtle way to do it they are quite stiff and shut with a resounding BANG!  Now I am in the main a chilly person who would rather be warm, if there is a draft I am somehow sitting in it. I am cold when others are warm so I tend to rely on hats, scarves and gloves and assume everyone else is a mutant enjoying the freezing gale so mostly I leave the open windows alone.

I think I should go with the BANG perhaps and close them more, let the other passengers sit and puzzle whether to wait till I get off to open them again if they are so inclined..hmm.

The single deck Mercedes buses did not have this draughty moral dilemma, their windows do not open, they are air conditioned and the driver gets to make all the choices then.

In the Pink

both the posts and purple coated lady number number two are currently in that shade. The sight of both is a cheering thing.

In the pink

                                                                                          The posts are a buzz of colour first thing in the morning and wake up my eyes plus the pink arrived as the escalator was fixed and normal service and direction resumed.

Purple coated lady lady turned pink (her new winter coat) because I have not seen her for some considerable time and was beginning to worry rather than wonder, so apparently was she about me. So having our joint fears abated made us both feel in the pink.

Sadly Purple coated lady number three has not been in evidence for some time.

Deed for the day

a good one I hope, today I was both human clock and route map for two fellow travellers. 

Multifunctional me.

When the Up is Down

The escalators at the arrived at work bus  station are up on the left and down on the right as I face them from the bottom.

This week the escalator on the right (viewed from the bottom) has stopped working.  So you would think that there is no Down movement.

You would be wrong, the right escalator has been blocked off to stop anyone risking BIG steps and walking down the frozen escalator and the left hand side has had its direction of motion changed.

So the Up side is now the Down side and there is only Up by the stairs at the far end or the lift.

I have pondered the odd logic of this action and wonder if they think people wanting to leave the bus station (Up) will be in less of a hurry and so can wait for the lift or make the circuitous journey via the stairs.  Those arriving will be in a hurry to catch a bus (Down) and more impatient and likely to complain at any movement delay. 

The jester

this character gets on the return journey red bus.  He likes to tell jokes, not particularly funny jokes or new ones.  His sense of humour is much in common with the naughty sea side postcards.

He know it is not exactly the right place for his colour of humour and professes to both apologise and rationalise his choice in a way that challenges you to comment negatively or object without appearing close minded or overly politically correct.

The Jester treats the world as his audience, willing or not..he does not believe in the privacy bubble, he believes in the inclusivity bubble.  All should have the same privilege of hearing his jokes, and if sitting close enough to catch his eye participating (knock knock jokes are a staple).

He would have done well in the theatre, he has a pleasant tone to his voice and his projection skills are almost on a par with Brian Blessed.  I had evidence of that just this week when I ended up sitting on the top deck of the bus and could still hear him very clearly when he was sitting on the lower deck.

We all have differing thoughts on what is funny and I would guess there are many who will share his, but regrettably as you can tell I am not one of them.