Sit Down Already

Not having used public transportation all that much in Calgary, it was a little hard getting used to taking a bus to get to where I want to go here in Zilina. Don't get me wrong, its not like I never stepped on a bus or train in Calgary, once in a while from work or from the university into downtown but then once I got home I had my car. It was just easier hopping into my gas guzzling machine. With Calgary being so spread out, taking public transportation was sometimes beyond impossible, especially to the newer suburbs. Here I can get from the dorms into downtown within a matter of 15 mins and its pretty easy to figure out where the bus lines run. Only downfall is that if you want to go out into the city, then you better head home early because they stop running by like 10:30 pm. Apparently there is a night bus every couple of hours but I usually opt for the taxi because I am impatient and hate waiting.

Zilina busses; powered by electricity!!

I have come to understand bus etiquette the longer that I am here but I am still perplexed by one thing: when seats open up why don't people just sit down?? This morning the bus was packed and this situation could have been relieved somewhat if people would just sit down. Too bad I was stuck in the middle of it because I would have sat down so fast.

This all stems from the bus etiquette; you stand up for the elderly or others who can't for some reason stand. Ok fine, I got that much in Calgary or manners in general. But some people take it to a new level. There are two stops when many people get off; that being the main bus and train station. After that, you can find a seat no problem. However, for some reason people keep standing as if waiting in anticipation of the next stop when they might have to stand up again, but that's usually not the case. I used to sit down, not knowing otherwise and then one day a Slovak woman screamed at me because another woman with two small children had gotten onto the bus. Apparently I was supposed to jump at the sight of this and offer my seat. It's too bad I don't speak the language; one because I would have liked to know what she said to me, it sounded pretty bad, and two because I would have told her that she could have gotten off of her lazy ass too! Ok maybe its better that I don't know the language in that situation. In any case, even though I sometime feel like I'm being glared at, I will continue to sit down whenever I can, because I can!