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Back to index of Nerve 20 - Summer 2012
79 Bus
By ‘Time Traveller’
Image by Zoé S Hji-Christoforou
The 5.20 bus becomes very crowded when all the commuters board at the Adelphi Hotel. The older ladies with their four wheel trolleys take up most of the seats in the front of the bus. The stylish young ladies with their expensive handbags and Primark shopping bags tend to go for the middle seats, and the young men make their way to the back of the bus because they enjoy the space.
It's not long before mobile phones start jumping into life. "I'm on the bus", is shouted a dozen times by a dozen people.
Two young men almost yell to each other over the noise of the engine: "Yeah we enjoyed getting married in Vegas, but it was a bit of a conveyor belt job, not a bit romantic." The friend looks sad and says he's sorry they've been disappointed by the whole thing. He explains that he had a very small wedding here in Liverpool with just friends and family, adding "But it was the most romantic time of my life!" The two young men fall silent - they're deep in thought.
At least six passengers are playing their music on their iPods, you can hear the shushing sounds and the beats of the various types of music - it all gels together in the background. A young girl of about 13 has decided she loves her music so much she'll share it with the whole bus. She sits there with the music belting out, staring at her phone with her head down. People are smiling at each other, one older gent says to his wife, "Must have got that for her birthday", and people sitting near him start to laugh.
We stop again and pick up a young Chinese lady with a pram and a sleeping baby who is all snuggled and wrapped up against the bitter cold wind. Behind her are two identical twin boys aged about four, they're so alike you'd have a job distinguishing one from the other. They're smiling at all the passengers and I soon realise that they can only speak two words of English. Every time anyone gets on or off the bus they shout "Hello and Goodbye!" together, then go into a fit of giggles. This goes on until it's my turn to get off. The boys' voices can still be heard when the door closes and the bus moves off. They keep waving until the bus disappears out of sight. Out comes my umbrella as I make my way home.
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