Inside the Bus

Whenever I step foot inside the bus, the first thing I do is greet the driver. Usually, he or she is not hesitant to reply and would sometimes give me a smile. I then proceed to pay my bus fare and begin searching for a place to sit. During the day, I end up seeing either people sitting alone throughout the whole bus or groups of people socializing in the back. To me, I notice this as a form of indirect segregation within the bus since the front half consists of quiet individuals sitting alone, gazing through the windows, staring at their cell phones, or reading books. The back half of the bus contains all the socializing mostly from younger people, so it's not uncommon to hear voices coming from behind you. However, these people don't share seats so they're usually shouting or laughing throughout the back of the bus. Sometimes, people from the front ask them to lower the volume and from there, a contact zone is about to be entered. The front wants tranquility and concentration but the back prefers the socializing and the humor. Both sides are in argument with each other and because it's hard to satisfy both parties, no one wants to give in. It comes to the point where the people in the front have to compromise, such as not being able to read due to a lack of concentration or not being able to make an emergency phone call. So in a nutshell, the front and back of the bus have very bipolar properties and there is never a middle ground that fits both sides.

During the day, I usually encounter the bus being indirectly separated into two sides: a calm front and a loud back. No one wants to break the barriers that lie between them so they sit where they feel most comfortable. In the evening, however, there is no segregation. Taking the bus at night feels a lot more peaceful since there are not a lot of people who use the bus at this time. Whenever I take the bus that sends me home, I see no more than four riders scattered throughout the bus, doing their own things. To me, ideas of tranquility, peace, and sometimes boredom begin to pop up because at this point during the day, we all just want to arrive home. Everytime someone gets on the bus, they greet the driver and find any available seat. Sometimes, they would give me a smile, which surprised me because during the day, that almost never happens. My guess is that everyone's days are finally over and the stress of going to work or school are relieved so there is nothing to worry about anymore.