Bus or Bust

Okay, you need the next bus into town to avoid missing a an important meeting and you’re making your way to the stop, around the next corner. You can hear a commotion going on  - a male and female voice - and it’s becoming clear you’re walking towards it. Sure enough, you round the corner and a fully-fledged row is going on between boyfriend and girlfriend. She’s accusing him of cheating on her and he’s saying he didn’t, but is trying to control her flailing arms, pushing her back against the bus shelter. She’s telling him to get the F**k off and he’s screaming back, right in her face. The whole thing appears to be escalating and unfortunately you are the only other person in sight.

What do you do?

 1.    Continue to the stop and pretend you can’t see/hear what’s going on three feet from you.

 2.   Turn around, miss the bus and the important meeting, all on account of these two idiots.

 3.     Intervene, asking them to realise where they are – and risk them both turning on you.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. What did I do?  I took option 1. – but stood outside the shelter to give them more room.

What happened? They were oblivious to me until the girl pushed the boy into me. Did I react? No! Did he apologise? No. 

In fact, she pushed him again and this time he stepped back onto my foot, at which point I said ‘Ow!’…at which point the girl rounded on me and asked ‘what the f**k was my problem?’

I shook my head, saying nothing. The girl took that, not as a sign of submission but of disrespect and she was about to step forward and hit me when her boyfriend held her arms – and the bus turned up. Relief!

They continued bellowing at each other during the fifteen minute trip and although I managed to sit at the opposite end of the bus and avert my gaze, the girl made to come towards me on no fewer than four occasions, still convinced I was ‘dissing’ her.

I made my appointment but it didn’t go well. I was in the wrong frame of mind. I also had a large scratch on one of my expensive shoes where they’d been trodden on. That was the first time I’ve used a bus in years, and the last. 

Reading buses are great but no-matter how good the transport, the method stinks.