Pet Peeve

It's always lovely to venture out into humanity on a Monday morning only to be reminded how largely selfish and rude the majority of people are. This rant will probably be the first of many concerning that bastion of public transportation, the bus. In my case, DC buses. My daily trip should be painless--a short jaunt down Wisconsin on my way to work, and another one right back up it when returning home. But alas, there is always some annoyance to contend with, whether it's older people who give everyone the evil eye because you did not give up your seat for them, even if your seat is about 7 rows back and blocked by a sea of standing passengers, or just plain waiting for any bus to show up after walking 20 minutes in the cold and than subsequently standing at the bus stop for another twenty.

This morning my perturbance was lit by the fact that at my particular bus stop, people completely eschew the concept of a line. To me, it is completely common courtesy to let those who arrived first at the bus stop board the bus first; it is only fair. Down the road a bit at the Calvert Street stop, bus patrons obey the line rule, if only because the stop abuts a cleaners and there is very little room on the sidewalk, so the building aids in the formation of a nice, neat line. The next person to arrive at the stop simply falls in behind, and each person boards in the order they came. Thus, those waiting the longest are furnished with available seats on the bus, as it should be.

But up at my stop, people are oblivious to any such normal social niceties. People gather all askew--some people sit on the small brick wall outside the apartment building closest to the stop, some linger by the corner, others post themselves in the middle of the sidewalk. Now, for the most part, people are fairly accurate when boarding and do allow those who were clearly at the stop before them board first. But there is one particular kind of bus rider that feels that her presence at the stop is enough to let her waltz on before everyone else, even though she has arrived only second prior and the rest of us have been waiting for minutes. This offender is always a woman, usually dressed in a slightly outdated suit and walking with her nose in the air. Many times a Blackberry is in hand, as well as a shopping bag from some high end store to hold her odds and ends. She will saunter past all of us, command a post RIGHT at the curb so she is directly in front of the door when the bus arrives, and crown herself with the right to board first. This woman shows zero respect, in fact barely even acknowledges her fellow riders and deems herself worthy to take the last available seat and is clearly unaware, or most likely, uncaring, that the person who was waiting at the bus stop for fifteen minutes is now clinging to a hand rail and being catapulted around as the bus starts and stops.

When such a female presents herself, I want to march over and scream at her. To remove her from her pedestal and open her eyes to the fact that there are other people around and that this bus route does not revolve around her and her commuting needs. Instead, I stew the entire bus ride, and, admittedly, throw dirty glances her way, accompanied by a "tsk" with a shake of my head. This morning, feeling slightly emboldened, I boarded after her and said, half under my breath, "There IS a line." I'm not sure if she heard me, but I hope she did.

I know this is such a small matter, but really, in the world's swirl of tragedy and sadness, stress and worry, it IS these small gestures of basic human courtesy that bring a little bit of brightness to our society. That's why, when a gentleman who has been waiting patiently, in the cold, for that bus that never seems to appear, steps aside and lets me on first as I just make it to the stop, I smile widely and say "Thank you." Because I really, really mean it.