Problem
I was rather nervous about my bus journey. Lots of bad things happen on buses. All sorts or odd people. Even if no danger, the person on the bus beside you is smelly, nutty, too close for comfort.
Solutions
If you travel off-peak, you have a chance to move to another seat. I don't think it's offensive to move.
I often move to get a whole seat to myself. I am doing the person I leave a favour, because I leave more room for the person I was sitting beside.
Is it a personality thing? Some people like to claim a seat and stay in it. Some always sit in the same place on a bus or train every day, the one at the front with the view ahead. Schoolchildren run to the seat higher up at the back, where they can sit together on the longer back seat, be together in a group. That does a favour to the older people who don't want to risk walking up the short flight of stairs when the bus is moving, nor down them again to get off.
Also schoolchildren know the route. So they can sit at the back and rush off quickly at their stop. Strangers need to sit near the doors, watching for signs, or listening to the announcements.
I move to sit against the window and enjoy the view. If somebody large sits beside me, they have to spill into the aisle. I am firmly supported by the seat. I do not have my pockets exposed to people passing. I can put my bag against the window. I can tuck my clothes around any pockets.
But seeing the stop before mine I go into panic mode. I move to be near the door ready to get off without delaying the whole bus. I might move to the front to ask the driver if this is the nearest stop to my destination, such as a railway station. It's not always obvious. In a big station, (as happened to me in Singapore) the driver told me to wait until he pulled into the terminal, to save the delay and danger of crossing a busy road.
On my last trip, I moved to stand up in the wheelchair space to take photos. A woman with a buggy got on. I immediately offered to move to make way for her. She said she was fine. She sat down with the buggy next to her, leaving the space the other side of the pole for me to stand.
later, having taken a specific photo of a landmark, I sat down. As I sat in a single inward facing seat by the door, the bus stopped. A man who was unshaven, with missing teeth, said something I could not understand. it sounded like 'ez well ah'. He pointed at my hat. My hat said Venezuela. I was given it at the Venezuela stand at the World Travel Market in London. My hat gets lots of comments. I am a walking advertisement for Venezuela.
The old, unshaven man gave me a big smile. I gave him a big smile in return.
A moment later he was gone. No harm or danger to me. A smile and comment from him to cheer me.
An encounter to brighten his day. If I had been in the street I might have tired to evade a character I didn't know trying to make conversation. But because it was a bus, and I was surrounded by people, and he was getting off, and I could choose to get off at another stop (which I was doing anyway) I was safe and happy to brighten his day with my smile.
Thousands of bus journeys in every city every day. A few end in tragedy. Most end in comedy, if that's what you want.
I had met people who were unsmiling, smelly, mentally challenged, but also conversational people, young people, old people, smiling people, polite people, people to take me way from problems. Better than mediation or sitting at home alone. For a change of scene, take a bus.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I was rather nervous about my bus journey. Lots of bad things happen on buses. All sorts or odd people. Even if no danger, the person on the bus beside you is smelly, nutty, too close for comfort.
Solutions
If you travel off-peak, you have a chance to move to another seat. I don't think it's offensive to move.
I often move to get a whole seat to myself. I am doing the person I leave a favour, because I leave more room for the person I was sitting beside.
Is it a personality thing? Some people like to claim a seat and stay in it. Some always sit in the same place on a bus or train every day, the one at the front with the view ahead. Schoolchildren run to the seat higher up at the back, where they can sit together on the longer back seat, be together in a group. That does a favour to the older people who don't want to risk walking up the short flight of stairs when the bus is moving, nor down them again to get off.
Also schoolchildren know the route. So they can sit at the back and rush off quickly at their stop. Strangers need to sit near the doors, watching for signs, or listening to the announcements.
I move to sit against the window and enjoy the view. If somebody large sits beside me, they have to spill into the aisle. I am firmly supported by the seat. I do not have my pockets exposed to people passing. I can put my bag against the window. I can tuck my clothes around any pockets.
But seeing the stop before mine I go into panic mode. I move to be near the door ready to get off without delaying the whole bus. I might move to the front to ask the driver if this is the nearest stop to my destination, such as a railway station. It's not always obvious. In a big station, (as happened to me in Singapore) the driver told me to wait until he pulled into the terminal, to save the delay and danger of crossing a busy road.
On my last trip, I moved to stand up in the wheelchair space to take photos. A woman with a buggy got on. I immediately offered to move to make way for her. She said she was fine. She sat down with the buggy next to her, leaving the space the other side of the pole for me to stand.
later, having taken a specific photo of a landmark, I sat down. As I sat in a single inward facing seat by the door, the bus stopped. A man who was unshaven, with missing teeth, said something I could not understand. it sounded like 'ez well ah'. He pointed at my hat. My hat said Venezuela. I was given it at the Venezuela stand at the World Travel Market in London. My hat gets lots of comments. I am a walking advertisement for Venezuela.
The old, unshaven man gave me a big smile. I gave him a big smile in return.
A moment later he was gone. No harm or danger to me. A smile and comment from him to cheer me.
An encounter to brighten his day. If I had been in the street I might have tired to evade a character I didn't know trying to make conversation. But because it was a bus, and I was surrounded by people, and he was getting off, and I could choose to get off at another stop (which I was doing anyway) I was safe and happy to brighten his day with my smile.
Thousands of bus journeys in every city every day. A few end in tragedy. Most end in comedy, if that's what you want.
I had met people who were unsmiling, smelly, mentally challenged, but also conversational people, young people, old people, smiling people, polite people, people to take me way from problems. Better than mediation or sitting at home alone. For a change of scene, take a bus.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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