The bus ride

> Our only roadblock.
> This was my favorite advertisement.
> Ugliest seats in America!




Going into this assignment I had no idea what to expect. I lived on a road that buses drove down every thirty minutes last year and had a bus stop across the street from my house. The only people I had seen get on the bus were somewhat sketchy, so I made sure to go with a group. As I waited for the bus I started to think of how little I knew about it. I had only seen nameless faces ride by on it. I stood there taking pictures and waited and waited. As soon as it rolled up I was true to form and became a clumsy mess. I was trying to get my camera to take a picture and my student ID at the same time. I climbed on the bus, swiped my card, and assumed my position between Josie and Krista. I briefly noticed the vague shock of the people already on the bus as we settled in. I immediately started taking tons of pictures. Out the window , the seats, the emergency exit, and Ron Hatfield, our bus driver. I felt that the air wasn't so crisp. It was just cool enough so you would only develop a slight sweat. It smelled like chemicals, city and diesel. The chairs were a hideous print and color and were not very comfortable. I felt like an idiot pointing out all the brand new bus things to people. After about 10 minutes of pictures nausea started to set in and I was forced to just sit and endure the ride(the bus apparently has better brakes then my car, and they like to use them often and very sharply). As I sat there I finally noticed the people on the bus. They weren't the sketchballs I had seen before, in fact most of them just wanted to go to the mall. Most of them sat quietly or listened to music. I felt as if I had been tricked into some IARC social experiment. We stayed on the bus for an entire loop and I was thrilled to be on solid ground.
I decided to save the reading for after the trip so I could go in with a fresh outlook. I wanted to focus on everything and I thought the reading might confine me. Now that I have done the reading I think this was an attempt to get us outside our comfort zone and experience something new. It was a different world in a way, but at the same time I felt relaxed and comfortable the entire time. I think it was kind of fun to be the oddballs in a group, to be the unexpected and to meet or fail expectations.