A brief return.
And I was back, earlier than expected. It was like the feeling of returning to school after a long break –I was suddenly reminded of how familiar it all was, this experience which had been tidied into the store cupboard of my mind: The glow of the orange ’43’ appearing through the rain; a wobbly walk to the top deck where a I fling my sodden bag on my favourite seat, graciously waiting for my return; the rain running down the window near my head, distorting the outside world into a fluid assortment of shape and muted colour; a not-too-grubby copy of the Metro, which has faithfully continued it’s decline into tabloid in my absence, but which I thumb through nevertheless; a smoker at the back of the bus who waits not a minute after I sit down before adding to the atmosphere.
I sigh and smile and wipe the rain from my face. This is, without a doubt, a bus journey through south
posted by Geoff at 9:58 am
2 Comments:
Hey Geoff - I caught the 43 yesterday. I took the top deck, kerbside. After about 2 minutes I realised that the sun coming through the window was absolutely baking hot. As Palatine Rd and Wilmslow Rd are one straight line into the city centre I thought - "I'm gonna be fried by the time we hit Rusholme", so I decided to move to the other side.
Except my body was paraylsed.
"Oh no - everyone will think I'm totally wierd."
So I composed myself, took a deep breath, and leaped across the centre aisle. I was reminded of Blackadder, at the end of series 4 when he goes 'over the top'.
Scary stuff ;-)
Hi Matt, yeah - moving seats for no really obvious reason is a bus faux pas. It's generally ok to move into an empty bench on a busy bus, but you have to time it right: dashing for the empty bench at the same time as someone else is a blunder of the hightest level.
Post a Comment
<< Home