Someone has made a run for it at the traffic lights at the corner of Davey and Murray, but it appears that they didn't make it. I once saw a fellow walk straight into heavy traffic here one morning - we're talking the busiest and most dangerous it gets here in Hobart - and somehow miraculously avoid being squashed.
He did fit the profile of someone with comorbid mental health/alcohol and other drug affected (and believe me, I've had far more experience with that crowd that I'd care to relive), which would explain his not following my advice against wading into heavy traffic (and evading my grasp of his shoulder).
Which reminds me, I am often given pause for thought on why the socially isolated and [ostensibly] mentally unbalanced, are drawn to me when it comes to public transport. Now, you know the ones that I’m talking about, the flotsam and jetsam of our society. The people that ride the buses for somebody to talk to and because they have little else to do. Those individuals – dare I say it – that seem unbothered by the dubious achievement of having urinated and defecated in their pants earlier that day!
You know who I’m talking about. You won’t like to admit it, but you do.
What I want to know is, why do they always want to sit next to me? What makes me so special?
Now, I’m happy to have a chat, a nod and a smile at the state of the world, a quick “well, I’m not sure about that” when I’m told that there is a global conspiracy between a cabal of cannibalistic indigenous Australians and shady Zionist forces to read the minds of the unfortunate folk on the 4:45 Risdon Vale express, but I will admit that it gets rather tiresome when your only chance at penning a quick drabble is wasted on such drivel (did you see what I did there?).
A good heart can only get you so far you see, and remaining a nice guy ‘off the clock’ and amid the unholy stench of the unwashed and unwell.
Moreover, at what point is it acceptable to ask a fellow commuter if they have indeed soiled themselves?
If this is to awkward, when may be an appropriate time to point out that a number of seats are now free, and that it is indeed no longer necessary to sit crammed in next to me?
It is a tricky situation, to be sure.
Personally, I blame my dreamy brown eyes.
Comments
Public transport in that regard is an interesting microcosm of modern life.
But then perhaps you should not avoid such situations. A great literature is often the by-product of a writer experiencing all the jetsams and flotsams of life.
Don't worry, I was being paid.
Gee, I'm getting hungry. Wonder what the local pizza establishment would serve on a sunny Sunday.