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Waiting for the bus, waiting for the right time

image from wikipedia.org

I started taking the public bus a few weeks ago.

I am so used to taking our shuttle service that drops and picks me up right in front of my office and apartment doorstep, that taking the public bus made me a feel a bit nervous.

Nervous because I have not ridden the public bus for so long a time and I’m not sure about the route that these buses take.  If I jump in the wrong one, I might end up in the middle of the desert.

On the first night of my public bus journey, I reached the bus stop at around 6:30pm. Obviously, 6:30pm is a rush hour. Everyone has gone out of their offices. Everyone wants to get home quickly. Everyone’s in a hurry.

I stood at the crowded bus station for about ten minutes when the first bus came. Jam packed as it is, the crowd still hurriedly ran to the bus when it stopped and opened its doors to unload a few passengers. They pushed and tried to squeeze themselves in until there’s really no more space to drop a pin.

I waited again. I was sure that another bus will arrive in no time. Some passengers waited too while some did not and took the taxi instead.

After another ten minutes of waiting, two buses came. I had the luxury to choose which bus should I take as both were half empty.

The ride was smooth and comfortable. I didn’t have to push anyone or get pushed back.

When we reached our destination which is the metro station, the first bus, the jam packed one, just arrived too. This bus might have been stuck in the heavy traffic.

I felt bad for those who immediately jumped in the first bus. They were pushed and squeezed, and tired as they were from the long day at work, they still had to fight to get in the bus and stand uncomfortably while stuck in the heavy traffic when they could have comfortably sat inside the half empty buses if only they had the patience to wait for a bit more.

Back home, they usually compare the buses, or jeeps with love life. I thought there’s more to that.

Waiting for the bus is also like waiting for the right time, right opportunity or the right solution to our problems. The issue is, we are too impatient at times that we fight to get into the very first bus that arrives, knowing that more buses will come afterwards anyway.

We fight to get into the bus, unaware if the ride is even worth the fight.

We fight and push others to the point of hurting them. Then they push us back, sometimes harder, to the point that we fall off.  And if we don’t fall off, we surrender and voluntarily get off the bus at the next possible stop which is why we don’t reach our intended destinations and  we regret our decisions.

Sometimes all we have to do is just step back and wait. Wait till the rush hour cools down. Wait till the next empty bus arrives. Wait for the right time, opportunity or solution, as waiting for a little bit more won’t hurt at all.