A Crowded Bus

In the picture, a public bus is packed during what looks like the evening rush. The aisle is full of standing commuters holding on to the overhead grab handles and the vertical poles, and every seat I can see is taken. Many of them are looking down at their phones rather than at each other. An elderly woman is sitting near the middle with her bag on her lap, and she is one of the few people not holding a phone. What I also noticed is that the man standing nearest to her has his back turned to her, so he probably has not realised she is there at all.

I take the bus home from school and it is always full at about half past one. One afternoon I had a seat and a woman got on carrying a baby in one arm and a folded stroller in the other. I stood up and offered her my seat, but what I remember is that three people around me had been looking at their phones and none of them had seen her at all. She thanked me and I stood for the rest of the way, which was only four stops. After that I stopped taking my phone out on the bus, because you cannot notice anybody with your head down.

I feel the two most useful things are moving to the back of the bus and looking up now and then. When people stop just inside the door, the bus looks full when it is not, and commuters at the next stop are left behind in the rain for no reason. Looking up matters just as much, because the people who most need a seat are usually the ones who will never ask for one. I understand why some people keep their heads down after a long day at work — the ride is the only quiet half hour they get, and that is fair enough. That is why I believe nobody needs to be talkative on a bus, only aware once in a while.