Bus brained

The bus was chockers on my way to work yesterday, but very quiet.

It was also crowded inside my head, but very noisy. 

The first burst of brain noise was caused by a bloke manspreading, which meant no one could use the empty seat between him and the bloke next to him.

Lots of people assessed the tight space and walked past. He would occasionally look up, as if wondering why no one was trying to squeeze into the half seat he’d left free.

What is it with manspreading? When I’m on public transport I try to make myself as small as possible. I will sit with one butt cheek hanging off the seat or I’ll perch on the edge to ensure others are more comfortable. 

Blokes don’t seem to have the same mindset.

I gripped a handle for dear life when the bus shot off, then glanced down at the woman seated beside me. I was startled by what I noticed on her phone, because I could swear she was blogging.

She had a post page open on the WordPress app and had typed a heading along the lines of “Processing my anger and grief”. My eyesight was too bad to read what she was writing under that, but the young girl behind her was having a good stickybeak.

Here I was thinking I was the only one left practicing the dead art of blogging, but no, someone on my bus route is also blurting out their feelings to the world in a digital diary.

The third burst of noise in my head was caused by how hot it was at 8am on a June morning. It has been an unseasonably mild June, which makes me worry about businesses in the Australian snowfields, ocean temperature rising and killing coral, climate change, El Nino predictions and all the winter clothes I’ve bought that are still too warm to wear.

We also had a very cross bus driver, who kept slamming his hand on the horn at his fellow bus drivers, which I imagine wouldn’t go down too well in the tea room after his shift.

When I got to work my boss messaged to ask if I could do an impromptu Vivid Sydney shift from 4.30-11.30pm that night. My heart sank because I was feeling a little poorly and hadn’t slept well. I struggle to stay up past 9.30pm at the best of times, let alone when I am ailing.

It would also have meant trekking back home to let the dogs out for a wee before the shift, so I was incredibly relieved when my services weren’t required.

Have a good weekend. I am looking forward to having a rest. It’s been an exhausting few weeks.

Song of the day: The Beatles “Long and winding road”