by Grace Weng
The bus halts to a sudden stop. The standing passengers hold tightly onto their handles, but nevertheless lean at least thirty degrees forward and crush people in front of them. With the driver’s second step on the brake, they bounce back up and immediately prepare them-selves for the next round of excitement which the driver might surprise them . Taking the bus during with rush hours can be an unpleasant experience for many, but encountering a bad driver can virtually annihilate one’s good mood for the entire day. What I mean by a bad driver is not one who is not good at driving, but one whose driving habits and attitude are inappropriate and abominable. Often, the bad driver drives exceptionally well, and his skilled maneuvering of the vehicle leads to his impetuous driving. Despite the large number of cars roving through the streets during traffic hours, the bad bus driver can always make his bus overtake other vehicles, and continue driving at full speed. Though one would usually expect the bus to decelerate while turning, the situation is different when it is conducted by a bad driver. Instead of slowing down, the bus swerves swiftly around the cor-ner, drawing a perfect arc as it turns, causing other drivers to look on with awe but the passengers to wobble unsteadily as they strive to defy the centripetal force. When the bus stops abruptly for a red light, they unintentionally squish and squash people around them, while si-lently cursing the driver for his uncivil driving habits. Not only does the bad bus driver reveal his lack of consideration for pas-sengers through his driving habits, he also shows his impoliteness in a much more explicit way, by being rude and querulous. The rudeness that the bad bus driver shows towards his passengers is something I have always failed to com-prehend. For seemingly no reason at all, he is always angry and irritated with the passengers. With his tightly locked brows, he gives a despising look to the ones standing next to his seat. If some-one asks him a question concerning the route, he either answers in a harsh, exas-perated voice or completely ignores the inquiry. In the latter case, the passenger, assuming that the driver did not hear him, asks again and receives the first response with another look of annoyance. Complaining is another favorite habit of the bad driver. While chewing his betel nuts, he complains of the other buses getting in his way, the taxi that stops by the side of the road, the traffic, the lights, the police–basically every-thing he sees in his view. Of course, he does not make it any easier for his pas-sengers. Whether the passengers are getting on or off the bus, the driver com-plains impatiently, “Can’t you move faster?” “What’s taking so long?” Some-times he does not even wait for the last passenger to land his feet on the ground, but scoots away while the back foot is still stepping down from the stairs. With the installment of the new stored-value ticket machine, he has more to complain about than ever. When someone is having trouble inserting the card or inserts it the wrong way, he grabs the card from them, pushes it inside the machine, and says harshly, “Isn’t it as simple as that?” (a pretty mild expression compared to the “Are you stupid or what?” that he might say another time). It’s a pity that passengers not only have to endure the swarming crowds during rush hours, but they also have to put up with the terrible driving habits and attitude of bad bus drivers. However, as a passenger who takes buses almost every day, I can readily assure you that the chance of running into a bad bus driver is not that frequent. In fact, there are many polite and helpful drivers whose kindness can make your day, even as you squeeze your way down the crowded bus! a
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May 2024
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