Bus Wars

You know that little game they play in the bus. The one where the players would give each other stern gazes and determining glances to see if their opponents would crumble under the building pressure and be the first to give up. But giving up can bring dire consequences, especially in your reputation and stature in everyone in the game, and of course, no one wants to be that person.

“Did you guess it? So clever.”

Yep, that’s right, it’s the bell.

If you’re a regular bus rider, you would know pressing the bell early in the stop would seem uncool to the people in the public. And many people would rather wait for some other person to press the bell for their stop.

“That’s right, they’re looking at your unzipped fly.”

Now, this is how the game works. Everyone doesn’t want to press the bell; rather, they’ll wait for the bus to travel closer to the bus stop, with the mindset that someone else would press the bell first out of fear that they would miss their stop, and hence, receive the glances and stares from other passengers.

It’s incredibly amazing how most of us would go lengths just to avoid looks of irritation and a little “tch” of annoyance from people who you would never see again, unless you bump into them after taking the same bus dozens of times.

It’s great fun to see adults glancing back and forth at each other from the bus seats when the vehicle in question is approaching a bus stop and the subtle looks of triumph on their faces when someone finally presses the bell at the last possible moment.

“Your argument is invalid.”

But I guess, it’s unfair to say that fear of humiliation plays the entire role of people pressing the bus bell at the last possible minute. Maybe it’s because of by pressing the bell if they are sitting on the inside seat while someone is currently occupying the outside seat would physically mean:

“Hey, fatass, it’s my stop and you’d better get your limited edition Snorlax belly out of the way.”

“And you already used up your Master Ball.”

Thus, this would cue them either standing up or making a way from their seat to make way for you to get out. Now, I wouldn’t complain about this, if it was just before the bus pulls over at the stop in question. But to do so when the bus is 100 meters away from the stop? Wow.

Now you can’t possibly ignore the low-self esteem man/woman making way for you, because that would make both of you look like complete idiots. So, you take the easy way out, and move out from your seat, while the bus is rocking and jerking. It’s like getting out of a roller-coaster mid-ride, and you lose your comfy seat in the process too.

“NIRVANAAAAAAAAAAA”

So, next time you’re riding a bus, here’s a word of advice: don’t press the damn bell. The other passengers will be watching your moves like hyenas, and pressing it would mean getting devoured mercilessly. And hey, it’s a free game show on a bus; surely you don’t want to ruin your only entertainment pleasure on the move?