I rode the bus home today, which caused me to reflect on what an annoying and irrational people we human beings are. To wit: when the bus is crowded, it is necessary for the passengers standing in the aisles to move towards the back of the bus so that more people can get on at the front. Everyone knows this, since they have gotten on crowded buses before and wished others would move back, and also because the bus driver is constantly yelling, "Move back!"Nonetheless, a majority of bus riders absolutely refuse to move back. (I could attribute this to D.C. residents, but since others have noted the same phenomenon in other cities, I will lay off D.C. and conclude it is a fairly universal occurrence.) Instead, they cling for dear life to whatever pole or strap they happen to have their little paws on. Why do they do this? Do they feel that the people getting on the bus constitute a deluge of sorts, and that if they let go they will be washed away, perhaps swept out the back windows and onto the street? Is it some kind of Rosa Parks shout-out? (Note: Unlike the strap-grippers, Rosa Parks had a seat. Also, fighting for racial justice.) Do they think they are pioneers on the frontier who will eventually be granted ownership of the pole to which they are clinging if they set up a homestead there for long enough? Are they just resisting the authority of the bus driver and/or the new passengers in an aimless sort of way?
I just have no idea. If you see a very grumpy-looking girl on a crowded bus scowling at the pole-clingers while shoving her way to the back of the bus, give me a wave.
*I realize that the entire point of this post is to bitch about something that bugs me, and that this means I am in some way imitating Andy Rooney. This is unfortunate because I have hated Andy Rooney for years. I have long said: "I hate Andy Rooney. How can a crotchety old man make an entire career out of bitching about things that bug him?" But now I realize that my hatred was actually jealousy in disguise. Sorry, Mr. Rooney. CBS, if you are thinking of replacing Andy Rooney with a younger crotchety person who will bitch about things that bug her, you know where to look.
5 comments:
t&al once again proves indispensible: I knew nothing of this homestead act until this very day - my excuses being 1) the foreign-born aspect -- I've never seen 3's company either; and 2) never having taken property in law school (oops!). did you learn that in property?
Ahh, Mr. A, surely you jest about my having learned anything in Property class. I don't know if I had ever heard of the Homestead Act per se either until I googled "homestead" to find something to link to. I knew about the concept of homesteading based on the Little House on the Prairie books, and also an image from a movie whose name I can't remember of people on covered wagons racing off to find land to claim.
I have no "foreign-born aspect" reasoning (born in Durham, NC), yet I have not seen 3's Company.
The Homestead Act was featured in the movie Far & Away, starring, that's right, Tom Cruise. You cannot escape him, T & A Lady.
Andrea, you're a genius! It was totally Far & Away that has the image of the people in covered wagsons racing off to get a homestead. T.C. is indeed an inescapable presence in my brain!
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