Surviving The Rollercoaster: Tales From A Public Transport Journey

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When it comes to transportation, traveling in your private car is a more comfortable option compared to public transport. You have control over everything. You get to do things as you please- take pauses, decide whether to roll the windows up or down, and even enjoy any music of your choice without interruptions. I'm not saying public transport is totally bad. Of course, it has its own perks, but my point is- traveling in your private car is a better option. One thing you should know about me is that I don't really like traveling. Or maybe I do. The awful experience I've had with public transport has clouded the good ones to the extent that I no longer see traveling as a fun thing to do. I just wish a scientist would invent a teleportation machine. Not the fake ones we see in movies, but real ones.

I’ve had lots of experiences when it comes to public transport. Throughout my secondary school years, I relied on public transport to get home after school. I’ve had nice experiences using public transport. About a year ago, I met a very beautiful girl on a public bus. I met her last year October and she made the rest of my year amazing. Sadly, we fell off after a while. I’ve also had ugly experiences, and there is this one that lives rent-free in my head. It was such an ugly experience and I hope it won't repeat itself.

This happened this year (about 10 months ago). After my school exams, I went home to chill with my family. I spent about 1 month at home. It was the day I returned back to school. I don’t like carrying heavy loads with me whenever I’m traveling. So, I went with just my bag and a box (which I placed carefully in the boot… My mom escorted me to the park, and when we got there the bus was empty. My mom doesn’t like sitting in the back, nor does she like the front seats. In her opinion, the safest place to sit is in the middle. But this day, I wanted to sit at the back. I don’t know what came over me, I was just so determined to sit at the back. I entered the bus and sat in the last seat. After advising me for about 20 minutes, my mom left.

It wasn’t up to 5 minutes after my mom left that the next passenger arrived. Before I knew it, the bus was already complete. Oh! Scratch that! I thought it was complete! Only for the bus driver to announce that there remains one passenger at the back for. We were four sitting at the back. The back seats were made for 4 people. But because the drivers wanted to gain more money, they made it five at the back. In their defense, “fuel is expensive and they have to improvise ways to make more money.” Four on the back seats is not comfortable, but still manageable. But, 5? Extremely uncomfortable. The last person came, and I was a little bit happy because he had a small stature. The journey from the park to my school is about 3 and a half hours.

About 5 minutes into the journey, it started feeling really tight and cramped. It was so uncomfortable. My legs were aching. At that point, I wish I had listened to my mom. I wish I hadn’t sat at the back. It was really uncomfortable. Get the gist: we were just 5 minutes into the journey and my legs had started aching. 5 minutes out of 3 hours. I knew I wouldn’t survive it. I tried to adjust my legs, but it was still the same. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t call the driver's attention, nor could I tell the passengers to shift. Why? First off, I’m always shy when it comes to things like that. Also, I felt the other passengers were also going through the same excruciating pain.

At one point, the pain became unbearable. I placed my leg on the other, and it kind of became slightly bearable. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was slightly bearable. After about two hours into the journey, the car had a flat tire. I was so happy when the driver told us to get down while he replaced the flat tire. When I got down, it felt like my legs were missing. I couldn’t feel them. I stretched and rested for about 10 minutes. The driver fixed the tire, and we all got back in. Hashtag the hustle and bustle continues! I was expecting things to be better, but it was just the same. I beat the pain till I got to my destination. That day, I vowed not to ever sit at the back ever again.