Bus Passengers

The bus company changes routes from time to time. They warn us in advance but do we read the notices? No, too busy investing in cryptocurrency scams.

The company has its reasons for re-shuffling routes but I hope it knows that bus citizens are not monochrome. Bus population is determined by the hour of the day. Passengers on the 6 o’clock bus are working folks, who must be on time to punch in for the 7 a.m shift. There are no suits on that bus because they are still talking a walk through the woods.

The midday bus has an assortment of passengers: mummies pushing strollers; seniors running errands; the unemployed clutching plastic files with their C.V’s; health workers going shopping because they work nights and passengers with no destination in mind, so they fall asleep.

Evening buses also have a lot of possibilities. It might be students going home after three hours in the library. For example, evening buses from the University of Manitoba to downtown are very interesting. You might ride in a bus where everybody speaks one language and it’s not English.

Evening buses might also carry passengers wearing blue hockey jerseys. Some fans prefer to park outside the city centre and take buses to the stadium. Good idea. Parking is a scarce commodity on hockey nights and when big ticket musicians are in town.

The bus company has to change routes for one reason or the other, but be careful. Some new routes are losing money because it forgot that bus population depends on the hour of the day and other factors that are not written down in bus manuals.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.