Obstacle Bus

When I take the bus I have the good fortune of driving past a high school. Which means I have at least 30 kids on the bus heading to school. I have nothing wrong with kids going to school, in fact I'm one of them (but I go to college so that makes me way cooler.) The Problem I have with high school kids on the bus is, apparently no one has ever taught them how to sit on the bus.

Every day when I get on there is at least ten kids standing right in front of the door. It becomes very difficult to make it through the maze of children on days like today when I have two bags with me. Once you make it through the first obstacle, you now have to pass the kids who like to throw stuff at each other. Spit balls and paper air planes are the favourites to throw these days. Once you finally make it through these obstacles and find a seat some where at the back of the bus, you have to face the most challenging of obstacles. You have to put up with the "cool" kids who sit in the back. They love to talk really loud about last weekend's party, or the party thats coming up. I'll spare you the details but it's a lot  of talk about how they're going to, or have done something crazy at that big party. I tell you it is very challenging to sit through these conversations for 20 minutes.

So next time you find your self in one of these obstacle buses, put your head phones in, and don't be afraid to throw a few elbows!

The Bus Crew

Tuesday morning I was on the bus for 6 am so that I could be at school for 7.  So there I was waiting for my bus at 5:55am; This is also the earliest I’ve ever been up to wait for a bus.

On my way to school it was quite peaceful. The bus was relatively empty, and I sat at the back of the bus enjoying the great music of Zack Brown Band. At one stop, a group of 6 people all jumped on together, talking and laughing. I was quite jealous of them.  It was something that I have never seen before.  To me, it looked like a group that all got on together and spread joy throughout the number 58 bus.

When I removed my headphones from my ear I saw that they really were friends.  From hearing their conversations they seemed to know a lot about each other.  They laughed and joked around with the bus driver.  Then it hit me, these people were a bus crew. They get up obnoxiously early and spread their positive energy across a rather dull and tired bus-crew.  It got me thinking.

When I take the bus, at my usual time, there are always two people that wait at the bus stop with me.  Every time our bus comes we pretend we don’t know each other, get on the bus, and find are own seats. We completely ignore each other.  Seeing these people it makes me think that maybe I should talk to my fellow bus-mates.  Maybe we’ll become another bus crew, and annoy grumpy tired bus riders everywhere!

Not all bad

I complain a lot about the bus, and I often only share the negative stories I have, but Winnipeg Transit isn't all bad. I take the bus two, sometimes three times a day, for only about $60 a month, and with parking downtown, I'll take that every day.

Also as a 19 year old I often go out on weekends for an alcoholic beverage or ten, and the bus can be very handy when it comes to drinking. Every one knows drinking and driving is stupid and it can lead to some terrible things. That's why me and my friends try to take the bus when we can to the bars. Just last week we went down to Osborne village for a little pub crawl. We took the bus their, and cabbed back home, making sure we all got home safe.

Being environmentally friendly is a huge part of are society,  and I think that the bus is a great way to avoid unnecessary green house gasses going into are atmosphere. Think about if every one on your bus in the morning decided to take their car to work. Traffic would be at a stand still, and I'm sure mother nature would not be pleased with us.

Sure we see some pretty weird stuff, and have to sit beside creepy people when we ride the bus. But think about all the good the bus does for are city. Plus if you have a good sense of humour about it all, you can make a pretty cool blog :)

Take the good with the bad

When I forget to bring my Ipod on the bus, it can ruin my day. I get depressed when I do this, as the sound of a stranger sniffling their boogers just doesn't sit right with me. The sound of someone else's music blasting throughout the bus isn't my favourite either.

When I do bring my Ipod I try to keep it at a sound level that is comfortable for my fellow passengers. The last thing I would want to do is harm my hearing by playing my music too loud (I hope you got the sarcasm in that one) and more importantly, I don't want to disrupt my fellow bus riders with loud music.

On Wednesday, I had the good fortune of sitting beside a women who clearly loved Enrique Iglesias. You may ask "Daniel, how did you know she loved Enrique Iglesias?" Well, I had to listen to it for 45 minutes on my way to school. I personally am not a huge fan of Mr. Iglesias. Yes he is a gorgeous piece of man, but I don't care much for his music.

The good in this story comes from Monday morning. Usually a bus ride at 7:00 am isn't what I want to start my week, especially when I forget my Ipod. I took a seat near the back of the bus and made myself comfy. A few stops down the line another young man jumped on and took a seat beside me. He took out his Ipod, put his ear buds in, and started blasting music. Normally I would be upset with someone that obnoxious, but this time it was different. The beautiful sounds of Skrillex rang through out the bus, and it was glorious. I bounced up and down the whole way to school. When I got off, I thanked the young man for the nice start to the week. So if you decide to play your music loud enough for your neighbour to hear, make sure it's good music.