Wednesday, April 25, 2007

March on buses (2)

Again, I found myself using the bus in March this year, this time because my arms were too painful to cycle. As most readers of this blog do not take the bus in London. Let me tell you what you're missing:

1. Free newspapers - the most systematic brain-washing campaign I've ever been exposed to. You simply cannot avoid them, and I have not been able to resist reading them. Promoting celebrities, consumption and brain-death. And I didn't say a word about the waste of paper. Criminals.

2. Music- usually raggae or hiphop, coming from people's speakers, and most of the time suprisingly pleasant. Much better than mobile phone ringtones.

3. Most bus journeys are a constant reminder that this is Babylon: it is not unusual to hear on the same bus Polish, Portugese, Chinese, and French in African accents.

4. Passivity, alienation, and exasperating long journeys.

I'd rather be cycling.

1 comment:

Susan Kruse said...

Our local bus is great. It goes from the urban horrors of Leeds to the wildest moors and on to the sea. Every type of person(except the rich) use it and in the smaller villages you get the notion that this bus is a life-line. I love the bus - you need to be community spirited to enjoy it though.