Bus Tales, Part Two

When I got on the bus last week the bus driver, in a thick possibly Russian accent yelled at me for getting on the bus too early and started pointing at the ticket dispenser to explain that he could not give me a ticket for another minute. I told him I didn’t understand and his response was, “Where are you from?” I responded with the name of my village. He got this look on his face as if to say “like hell you are”. Not only had I disobeyed by getting on the bus early, but somehow he now also thought I was a smart ass.

On the way to work the next day we got stopped in the usual place where the road narrows and the bus driver was not willing to give in and put it in reverse to give the oncoming driver some space. Next thing I know, a man has walked up to the bus driver’s window to cuss him out. It went on for almost five minutes with a lot of “you fat fuck” and “fucking twat” thrown back and forth. Never have I heard so many “f” words jammed in one span of time. It was a bit unsettling at first, but then it was just downright funny.

My last note on the “f” word. Due to the after 9:00pm the “f” word is okay rule here, I think A has heard it more in the past three months than she has her entire life. I’m beginning to think it is not the holy mother of swear words that it is in the U.S. I asked one of my colleagues who used to live in the States and they agreed.