The Bus 123 and I
The people chose not to change the government so I suppose the buses will not run as usual, ha ha.
The other day I took my seat yet again among the elect, the section of the population of Dublin who are at the mercy of bus No. 123. The woman next to me started rambling on about this and that. This is something I have always liked about Dublin buses. There is often an "ole wan", an old woman who will tell you what she thinks about things in a friendly and non-threatening way. Usually she doesn't expect any response from you, your job is to listen. I was sitting comfortably, this old one had already begun her story. She was racing through the morning's events "...bus pass... waited for the bus... rain..shocking..." etc.
Then suddenly she went ".. .east Europeans... coming here... taking over... criminals... scoundrels... shouldn't be allowed... go home " etc.
She was leaning towards me. Her breath was in my face like a rotten dish cloth. I looked away. Should I say something? Am I "east European" myself? Does it make a difference? I kept my hooded ( slightly Mongolian?) eyes on the floor. I was overcome by embarrassment. For myself. For her. For the bus route.
I am going to WALK everywhere from now on as far as is possible.
The other day I took my seat yet again among the elect, the section of the population of Dublin who are at the mercy of bus No. 123. The woman next to me started rambling on about this and that. This is something I have always liked about Dublin buses. There is often an "ole wan", an old woman who will tell you what she thinks about things in a friendly and non-threatening way. Usually she doesn't expect any response from you, your job is to listen. I was sitting comfortably, this old one had already begun her story. She was racing through the morning's events "...bus pass... waited for the bus... rain..shocking..." etc.
Then suddenly she went ".. .east Europeans... coming here... taking over... criminals... scoundrels... shouldn't be allowed... go home " etc.
She was leaning towards me. Her breath was in my face like a rotten dish cloth. I looked away. Should I say something? Am I "east European" myself? Does it make a difference? I kept my hooded ( slightly Mongolian?) eyes on the floor. I was overcome by embarrassment. For myself. For her. For the bus route.
I am going to WALK everywhere from now on as far as is possible.
posted by Arja at 12:31 em
4 Comments:
Take the bus. There are lunatic bigots everywhere. If you were in eastern Europe there'd probably be some old bat (or young bat) giving out about those western tourists putting prices up and buying houses.
Hi! Your blog about the 123 bus is very good. I'm doing a work project on Drimnagh and I just wondered which direction do you take the bus from: Drimnagh to the city centre or Marino? It would be really helpful if you could let me know. Thanks a million!
Hi Ailish,
I take the bus 123 from Marino to the city centre, worse luck.
Best of luck with your project on Drimnagh!
Arja
Hmm. I live in Kenilworth, up the road from Drimnagh, so I went looking hopefully for Ailish's blog. Clicking on the name 'ailish' didn't do it, so I tried http://ailish.blogspot.com on the off chance but found an empty blog. Ailish, if you come back, I'd love to read what you say about Drimnagh. (I don't take the 123, by the way, though I do take the 18, 83, 54A and 19A, when they come.)
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