Riding the bus is a community

The bus riding community is a rather diverse group of people. People take the bus for a variety of reasons; to save money, to save the environment, because they don’t have a license, because they don’t have a car, because they physically can’t drive a car, because they are too young to drive, because they are too old to drive, because they can sleep during the commute, because they can study during the commute. I could go on and on but I think I’ve made it clear that there are a variety of factors motivating people to take the bus. In reality the reasons don’t matter. Despite differences in motivations these people still have one thing tying them together. They ride the bus, and they do it consistently.

            There are a few shared values among regulars of the bus system. They are commonly shared beliefs that act as general guidelines to control behavior and make the bus ride pleasant for everyone. These include such basics and keep your music low, don’t have overly loud conversations, respect the drivers, never sit next to a stranger when an empty seat is available, don’t hold the bus up as you fumble with change, and be kind to your fellow riders. These are a few of the general rules that most bus riders understand and follow on a daily basis.
            Unfortunately anyone who has ever ridden a bus has probably seen examples of these understood values not being respected. Almost every day I see a rider’s poor behavior worsen the day of the other riders. These annoying riders are sometimes new riders learning the ropes, but often they are a rider who should know well enough how to act, but simply doesn’t care enough about others to alter their behavior. This is the main factor that works against the cohesion of the bus rider community. Public busses are a weird sort of area where no one likes to interact with others, and tend to keep to themselves. Because of this rude riders tend to get away with their behavior, much to the annoyance of the respectful riders.
            During my Junior and Senior year of high school I was a partial bus riding patron. I would occasionally use the public busses but was by no means a regular. This is where I learned the basic philosophy of respecting others and not causing a disturbance. Sense leaving High School I have relied on the bus getting me to and from school, work, errands, and meetings with friends and family. On school days I ride two busses a day. Workdays require four separate busses. About twice a week I have school and work, meaning at least six different busses in one day. With all this time spent on busses I am thankful for the general bus riding community. They are responsible for many hours of study and rest enjoyed in the low murmur of a well behaved bus.   

If you found my wallet

Usually my wallet is fairly spars and contains little personal information. But sense it is fairly full right now it might be possible to figure out a little about me. I have few cards, a few scrapes of paper, and few other odds and ends.

Let’s start with the cards. My EVCC ID gives my name, my school, and a fairly accurate image of my face. It also has an example of my horrible hand writing representing my signature. Depending on the finders opinion of students and community colleges it could be determined that I am either a hard working person trying to gain an education, or that I am a slacker student partying my way through college. Other items in my wallet are needed to gain a better understanding.

My employee business card and an old slip acknowledging my hard work from a manager give the impression that I am working my way through college and probably lead a busy life. A business card from “Americas Best – Contacts and Eyeglasses” shows that I had an eye exam scheduled for last week. That card fails to show that I have very poor eyesight and am entirely dependent on my glasses. Without that knowledge it would impossible to know that my glasses are very dear to me and a key part of my own self image.

Moving on from cards the finder would next examine the receipts I have in my wallet. The Disney Store receipt actually shows a gift I recently purchased for my girlfriend, but by itself would seem very odd in a young college students belongings. The finder could assume that the item was a gift and that I am a loving boyfriend, or they could assume that I am a bit of a pansy and buy myself stuffed animals. My movie ticket receipt from over a month ago show that I went on a date, because I purchased two tickets, and that for some reason I enjoyed the movie enough to keep my stubs.  From this the finder could conclude that I loved this movie or that it was a first date or that it was some special occasion. It would not show them that this was the first movie I had been able to afford to take my girlfriend to in many months, and that my identity as a good boyfriend is very important to me.

Finally my lone debit card and low amount of money would possible lead the finder to assume that I am poor or broke. In reality I simply lose my wallet on a fairly regular basis and therefore try to keep important items out. This is also why there are no pictures or sentimental mementos. But sense the finder does not know this they could easily conclude that I was impersonal or that I had no close ties.

As you can see there are many ways to interpret the contents of my wallet. The many ways have a lot to do with the perspective of the person who is doing the looking. A persons personal belongings can only tell so much about them, and only with a small amount of certainty.

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