Click to stop the bus ... you must be getting off.
Bus Riders
Down on the street, the school children line up in a perfect 1-2-3 queue, each one standing close to the one in front of him or her, as the entire group waits by the curb. They wait for twenty minutes or so, and as that time drifts by, the line gets just a little longer. The sleepyheads and stragglers show up with milk moustaches or runny noses a little later than the more enthusiastic ones. Before long, a big yellow bus turns the corner, and pulls up slowly to where the children wait. Red caution lights on the front of the bus flash in the dull morning light, and the line of young students disappears. In the next moment, the bus pulls away, and the street returns to a quiet, somewhat uninteresting suburban boulevard.
I'm not sure why I'm writing about this on such a chilly June morning. I'm never sure why I love to watch this scene play out day after day, except for on the weekends. I suppose there is something comforting in routines. I am not usually a man who loves routine.
Still, there is something about that line of children that always makes me curiously uneasy.
We all line up for things in life. We line up at the check-out in the grocery store, we line up to buy tickets for a movie or a concert, we line up in the bank, we line up at the airport, we line up at a fast-food restaurant, we line up in our cars as we wait for a red light to turn green.
So much of our lives is spent waiting.
Now, maybe it goes without saying that some of us are better at living in a queue than others. Some of us are more patient, more at ease with the fact that waiting in line has an end to it and that, sooner or later, you will get what you want or to where you want to go.
Still, what if you have been waiting for something for such a long time that it seems like the waiting will never end.
People close to you will preach, "Patience, patience, patience ... soon you'll get married again ... soon you'll get over your financial woes ... soon you'll be happy ..."
Yes, soon ... soon that bus will arrive and take you to where you need to go.
Really?
Is waiting patiently all we need to do?
Maybe, we're confusing "patience" with insecurity. It takes some courage to "seize the day," to get out there and chance it all on red or black, success or failure.
Win some, lose some — that's simply the cost of being really alive.
You see, I suspect that there is an obligation on our part to make things happen. I suspect that rather than just wait for the bus, you might want to steal the bus and immediately head out to where you want to go.
What's that? It's illegal to steal a bus? You don't have a clue how to drive a bus? You're worried that the bus is going to knock you over and crush you dead right there in the street?
Excuses, excuses.
OK, I don't mean that you should literally steal a bus. My point is that, in terms of living life to the fullest, either you're ready or not. Decide.
One thing is for sure ... life is not out on a street curb somewhere and waiting in a queue for you.
Down on the street, the school children line up in a perfect 1-2-3 queue, each one standing close to the one in front of him or her, as the entire group waits by the curb. They wait for twenty minutes or so, and as that time drifts by, the line gets just a little longer. The sleepyheads and stragglers show up with milk moustaches or runny noses a little later than the more enthusiastic ones. Before long, a big yellow bus turns the corner, and pulls up slowly to where the children wait. Red caution lights on the front of the bus flash in the dull morning light, and the line of young students disappears. In the next moment, the bus pulls away, and the street returns to a quiet, somewhat uninteresting suburban boulevard.
I'm not sure why I'm writing about this on such a chilly June morning. I'm never sure why I love to watch this scene play out day after day, except for on the weekends. I suppose there is something comforting in routines. I am not usually a man who loves routine.
Still, there is something about that line of children that always makes me curiously uneasy.
We all line up for things in life. We line up at the check-out in the grocery store, we line up to buy tickets for a movie or a concert, we line up in the bank, we line up at the airport, we line up at a fast-food restaurant, we line up in our cars as we wait for a red light to turn green.
So much of our lives is spent waiting.
Now, maybe it goes without saying that some of us are better at living in a queue than others. Some of us are more patient, more at ease with the fact that waiting in line has an end to it and that, sooner or later, you will get what you want or to where you want to go.
Still, what if you have been waiting for something for such a long time that it seems like the waiting will never end.
People close to you will preach, "Patience, patience, patience ... soon you'll get married again ... soon you'll get over your financial woes ... soon you'll be happy ..."
Yes, soon ... soon that bus will arrive and take you to where you need to go.
Really?
Is waiting patiently all we need to do?
Maybe, we're confusing "patience" with insecurity. It takes some courage to "seize the day," to get out there and chance it all on red or black, success or failure.
Win some, lose some — that's simply the cost of being really alive.
You see, I suspect that there is an obligation on our part to make things happen. I suspect that rather than just wait for the bus, you might want to steal the bus and immediately head out to where you want to go.
What's that? It's illegal to steal a bus? You don't have a clue how to drive a bus? You're worried that the bus is going to knock you over and crush you dead right there in the street?
Excuses, excuses.
OK, I don't mean that you should literally steal a bus. My point is that, in terms of living life to the fullest, either you're ready or not. Decide.
One thing is for sure ... life is not out on a street curb somewhere and waiting in a queue for you.
Thank you for sharing this interesting post. I really enjoy it. Have a great Sunday !
ReplyDeleteThanks, Doronette ... you have a great Sunday too ...
Deletethe pic gave me such a smile :)
ReplyDeletebuses and queues..you make it all sound so simple..
what about if you're at a bus stop waiting for a train?
If you're at a bus stop and waiting for a train, you may be smarter than most when, out of nowhere, that train comes along, clickety-clacking through the ruts of the road and carrying cows and sheep and pigs to market. It's the wrong train, of course, but hop on anyway. You never know who is crazy enough to be driving that brute through the city streets, and quite frankly, you could do worse ... ;o}
DeleteYou are a funny man ... thanks for letting us get off the bus.
ReplyDeleteAs for waiting in line, sometimes it's well worth it because there is someone special waiting just on the other side. Waiting in line at Customs gave me a whole new perspective about standing in line, and I can't wait to do it again.
Well, travel is very broadening, I think ...
DeleteI remember this
ReplyDelete...as long as you don't go from the bus to the merry go round :P
Haha ... life can be a merry-go-round ... and you have to be sure to pick the right wild-eyed stallion to ride through all its spinning ups-and-downs ...
Delete