Ride the Bus

I'm a huge fan of public transportation partly because I don't have a driver's license and partly because I don't really believe in the use of cars as single occupant vehicles. That being said, I'm not a huge fan of interacting with others while using the aforementioned mode of transport. That is why I own an iPod.

To the socially adept, the white earbuds are a signal that I neither want to talk to you or have any desire to hear you talk to others. My music isn't obnoxiously loud, for fear that my bus seat neighbours find out that I fancy me some Ashlee Simpson and TLC on occasion, but it is loud enough to block out ambient noise and quiet chatter.

Unfortunately, it doesn't stop people from trying to talk to me - from what I've been told I'm not very approachable, so I just don't get it, but that's where the sunglasses come into play. Rain or shine, the sunglasses stay on for the duration of the bus ride, partly to shield my eyes from the sun's damaging ray and partly because I frequently fall asleep on my morning commute and it's a security blanket.

Enter the Loud Talker. Not only is he a fan of having obscenely loud cell phone conversations with his ladyfriend, he also feels the need to recap what he told her to everyone sitting adjacent to him after he hangs out, God forbid they missed a snippet of the conversation.

On many occasions he's tried to catch my eye/attention and I've either looked the other way - kinda hard when he's sitting next to you, or I've pretended to not notice as I casually crank the volume on my iPod.

Except on Saturday he proceeded to have a conversation about Tim Horton's coffee with the annoyingly high-pitched lady to my left early Saturday morning. Here's an idea: Just shut up! I don't care how you feel about their coffee. I honestly can't understand why you're so chipper this early in the morning but it needs to stop.

I cranked the music to 4/5 of it's allowable volume and put on my old standby, Young Love, but to no avail. I wanted to reach across the seat and grab him by the throat and politely, but forcefully, tell him that no one was interested in anything that he had to say and that if he was planning on receiving that many text messages could he please turn down his musical ringtone?

Al in all, I'm pretty sure my blood pressure spiked a little bit and it made for quite possibly the longest bus ride ever. What a great way to start the day.