All that for 1 Yuan
I know I’ve been remiss in writing, I just haven’t felt like it. I know I know, that’s no excuse but I gave it just the same.
After the afternoon out I went to the bus stop with Bonnie, I must admit a little apprehensive as I was cutting it close to 6pm. The buses out to my school stop at 6pm and the price to get home jumps from ¥1 to ¥8 for a cab. Yes, I’m a cheap skate, I want to travel at the end of the semester and I sure as heck am going to penny pinch to get there.
Well standing at the bus stop praying I hadn’t missed the last bus I was much relieved to see a #28 up the street. I stepped off the curb and into the mass of bodies clamouring to get to the bus. Then out of no where I seemed to hit a brick wall, the normal elbow jabbing body pushing stopped and no one is moving, then the yelling started. Now I’m not saying raised voices someone has been a little ruffled here, I mean full out ‘You killed the family pet’ scenario! I still don’t understand a lick of Chinese and was just concerned about getting on the bus, so I did what any confused Western would do, I took advantage of the confusion and just pushed through the crowd squeezed around the yelling gentlemen and swiped my bus card.
How long can a yelling match last before the guy gets kicked off the bus? Well obviously it is a lot longer in China. I’m not exaggerating I timed it! 7min. Now let me explain just some of the insanity that took place. The customer was a middle age middle class man standing at the front shaking his fist at the driver. It was getting heated and a woman at the front obviously took the side of the driver but still couldn’t get anywhere with the disgruntled customer. Soon the whole bus was in an up roar, shouts from the back, groans and angry sighs from everyone. Some people didn’t feel like this bus was worth the trouble or wait and disembarked for another.
I finally broke down and asked the girl next to me if she spoke English. With a sheepish grin she tried her best to explain the feud. From what I gathered, the man was demanding his fare back from the driver for some reason. I about went through the roof! Let me at him I’ll give him the whole ¥1. Holy Smokes! Seriously the customer just wants his ¥1 back. I understand the drivers position no refunds but really couldn’t the rest of us who would like to get home today pool together a ¥uan.
Oh the argument peaked when the driver just decided to go and turned the bus back on, oh as a way of persevering gas the bus drivers here turn off the bus at stop lights and during heated arguments apparently. So the bus driver turned the bus back on and begins to pull back into to traffic with the disgruntle customer yelling away and he (disgruntle customer) reaches over and turns off the ignition! Okay, that has got to be the straw that broke the camel’sback, right? Nope the argument just goes on. If I thought there was another bus coming I would have got off then! I finally just stick in ear phones and settle in for what seemed like the evening.
Eventually we are on our way. I still don’t know how it ended with the customer but the bus started and the occupants erupted in signs of clear relief and joy.