bus stories

Here’s the newest incident: one of the drivers (large man) actually assaulted one of the teachers (small woman) from my school today. She had thrown her bus fare at him, since last time she was on the bus he had refused to give her change. She hadn’t been paid for several months and had no money to spare. He stopped the bus and ran after her, shook her and maybe hit her. He pulled her shirt out of shape. No one was willing to act as witness. They all walked away from the bus stop. I predict that nothing much will happen. That the driver will keep his job, that the teacher will have to ride his bus until she finds a new job for herself, and that they'll curse at each other next time instead of fighting.

I was on the bus today [five days ago, actually], and a baby who was old enough to walk but not talking yet, was there. She liked me. Unfortunately, when I smiled at her, she started peddling her legs violently, kicking her poor delicate mother in the gut. The bus ride was long, and each glance from me made her more excited and likely to hurt her mom. The last time I looked at her, she squawked like a bird, jumped off her mother’s lap, and ran, breathing rapidly, to another seat, which she began to bang with her fists, looking back at me and smiling every few seconds while squawking. So from then on I didn’t look back, although I knew she was staring at me. The man across from me was also staring at me – I never know why, if someone’s heard about me or notices I’m foreign or what – also. I began to sneeze. Three, four, five times. (I’ve been having bad allergies) “Gesundheit,” he said, unexpectedly. “Rakhmet,” (Thank you, in Kazakh) I said, also unexpectedly.