The Only Thing Wrong With Public Transportation is the Public
Planes trains and automobiles-my experience from Guatemala to Canada so far
It’s been awhile since I’ve traveled to Canada from Guatemala. It’s generally an ok trip but it could be a long one, depending on a million things like road conditions in Guatemala to get to the airport, flights canceled at the airport, delays.
You get the idea.
After reading so many horror stories about travel these days, I was basically prepared for anything. I mean, besides the fact that pretty much everything is out of my control anyway, so there’s that.
I let a lot of things slide
I find that lately my patience is like an on and off switch and depending on the day and my mood, you’ll either get patient Iva or ‘getthefuckoutofmyface’ Iva.
Turning 60 can kinda suck a little. My emotions are never stable.
But for the most part, I really do let things slide. I just don’t give a shit about a lot of stuff. So when things go wrong I can stay pretty calm, cool and collected.
For the most part.
What I do have a hard time letting slide is when people are ignorant, rude, mean or just being douchebags for no reason.
I have a really hard time with that.
Needless to say, while I was completely prepared for all the challenges of public transportation, I wasn’t prepared for the biggest challenge — the public.
Are you ok?
In the airport, you will find quite a few people rushing to gates, yelling on the phone about ‘some flight delay’, throwing their arms in the air in complete frustration and basically just pissed off.
A lot of them look like that in the airport.
While I feel their pain and frustration, someone should tell these people it’s inappropriate to project all your pain and anger on the first person you see. Chances are, it’s not their problem and there’s little they can do about it.
It’s not ok to do that.
There’s a pretty famous quote that goes something like this:
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.
I rolled my eyes a lot in the airport.
Please keep moving…
And then there are the peeps who exit an escalator or doorway or whatever and just stop. Dead. Right smack dab in the way of everybody and everything.
Yo, Felicia, sweetheart. You gotta keep moving. Go find a safe place to stand away from a main walking traffic area to get your shit sorted. You’re gonna piss off a lot of people if you don’t move.
Are people so oblivious to their surroundings that they don’t even realize they are stopping traffic for everyone around them? I don’t get it. How can you not know??
Sometimes, people get on my nerves
That dude on the plane
I have to say, air travel all went really well for me with only a one-hour delay to report in Canada from Toronto to Ottawa. All else was great and smooth.
So in case you weren’t aware, Canada still requires you to wear a mask in certain areas, like on the plane and in the airport. Ugh. Yes, I’m one of those ‘fuck masks’ whiny bitches.
There I said it.
So upon boarding my Air Canada flight, the flight attendant didn’t approve of my mask. The mask itself is cute. It’s a mask from The Awkyard Yeti store (go see, they’re cute) but it’s a teeny bit loose. She instructed me to remove it and gave me one from the plane.
Oy.
But there was that dude in 28A who really didn’t want to wear a mask at all.
Seriously?
And all I can think of is “Bitch, if you cause any trouble at all before the flight even takes off I will personally shove that fucking mask down your throat.”
The flight attendant was agitated. You could see she had had enough of this guy. On the 3rd warning she gets stern.
“Sir, I’m gonna need you to put your mask on right away please,” and she stood there until he did.
Thank God, I really wasn’t in the mood to fight (haha).
Sometimes, people get on my nerves.
People in Canada are so friendly
I really forgot how friendly, helpful and overall wonderful the people of Canada are. Well, most of them.
From the airport to my first Service Ontario office in Sudbury, the warmth and friendliness of people I encountered reminded me why I did like living in Canada — it was the people.
But not all of them.
That chick on the bus
Every now and then you run across someone who is just a plain ole douchebag. And you know no matter what you say or do, it won’t make a difference, so you just don’t say anything at all…unless you’re Iva.
Now I’m not into arguing with people.
When you argue with a fool, it only proves there are two.
The Libra in me avoids conflict at all costs. Period. I really hate fighting and arguing (honestly I wouldn’t have shoved that dude’s mask down his throat but I’d have thought about it). So it would take an awful lot for me to really speak out on something.
Like it has to really ruffle my fucking feathers. And this chick on the bus did just that.
She solidified the reason I don’t like people. More on her in a bit.
People are weird
I decided at the last minute to travel from Ottawa to Sudbury by Greyhound bus. I’m ok with the bus and I figured this 7-hour road trip will give me time to chill out completely, not work, relax and decompress before I hit Sudbury.
I do have to admit though, as much as I don’t mind the ride, it’s the people on the bus who tend to creep me out a bit. And for good reason.
There’s this story here that left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, for years to come
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying all people who take the bus are murderers or weirdos. I mean, I’m on there so …I’m just saying, the bus does sometimes creep me out.
The Uber guy who was very un-Uber
I had to find the exact bus shelter that the Ontario Northland stopped at The Ottawa General Hospital. I said to the Uber guy “ Look, I’m not from here. I need you to please help me find the shelter to be picked up.”
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have minded walking around a bit and looking for it but this time I had a suitcase and a heavy backpack. I certainly didn’t want to be walking all over the fucking hospital parking lot looking for this shelter.
He stopped at the first shelter and made no attempt to move the car to look for other shelters. He was done. He tells me to walk to the hospital and ask someone.
He doesn’t get out of the car, doesn’t pull my suitcase out of the trunk for me. He does nothing. He waits for me to get out of his car and then sped off.
Fuck you.
I did yell at him as his car sped away. “Thanx for nothing you fucking moron.”
I know, not very Iva-like.
Sometimes, people get on my nerves.
And then there’s this chick behind me.
First, it’s important to know that when I got on the bus, every seat was taken, one by a human, and the one beside them with one of their bags.
Look I get it. You don’t want anyone to sit beside you. I totally get it. But the reality is, you have to move your bag. One of you motherfuckers has to move your bag so people can sit down. More people are getting on the bus. Capiche?
As I got near the back of the bus, I politely asked some cute little 23-year-old if she would kindly move her bag so I can sit. She huffed and did it. The lady behind me had a small child with her, maybe 8 or 10 years old.
As the bus started moving I relaxed back into my seat and prepared for a blissful and quiet journey to Sudbury…until this happened.
I can hear the young girl starting to get motion sickness. I know that sound all too well. I get it sometimes too. The mom was apologizing to all of us around her as her daughter hurled in the bag.
I asked her if she needed water. She declined and apologized again.
Her daughter hurled, gagged, choked and spewed off and on for 7 hours. Good times indeed. In her defence, she did sleep a little bit too.
The chubby boy on the bus
And then there was this guy. The chubby boy on the bus. He was maybe late teens or even early 20s. He was rather large and his hygiene was not the greatest.
Ok, I’ll say it. He smelled bad.
At some point, he meandered to the back of the bus where the washroom was which was 2 rows behind me and just beside the lady and her barfy kid.
He went into the bathroom, did his business and walked back to his seat but not without Ms Barfy Mom having something to say about it.
And she started “Omg what a smell, oh fuck that stinks so bad, omg geezus am I the only one who can smell that? Oh, this is ridiculous.”
The diplomatic, non-confrontational Iva stepped aside. I turned around and quipped at her “I’m fairly certain he’s NOT deaf.” The whole back half of the bus could hear her.
I wondered, did she think everyone loved listening to her daughter puke her brains out or did she think that apologizing to everyone was a “I won’t get judged” card.
I wondered if she thought it was ok to point her finger and be publicly mean to someone.
Did she think her behaviour was acceptable?
Sometimes, people get on my nerves.
But really, are you ok?
Why do people think it’s ok to be rude, arrogant, ignorant, mean, etc? Why? Don’t people see that the world needs more good people, helpful people, kind/loving and compassionate people?
Don’t you see?
Can you remember a time when you were having a super bad day and desperately needed a kind person?
Can you remember a time when you were in a bad way and someone was mean to you? How did that make you feel?
Why would you want to project that feeling onto someone else? Why do we want others to feel pain? Why?
We’re really not ok. We are hurt and angry and we really just want to make sure that YOU know how hurt and angry we are and we’re gonna make sure you feel that hurt and anger too.
And the vicious cycle carries on. Until one person puts a stop to it. Says something kind, does something kind. Until one person does something to diffuse the situation and makes everyone feel good again. Safe. Happy even.
Travelling is stressful
Look, I know travelling can be stressful. Trust me I know.
- I can’t tell you how many times I’ve slept on the airport floor due to flight cancellations.
- I can’t tell you how many times my luggage never showed up with me.
- I can’t tell you how many times I sat down on the plane and wondered if this was the flight that was going to make the news, and crash.
- I can’t tell you how many times I’ve missed flights because of ‘second security screening’ at the airport.
Shit happens. Period. I think the shittiest part of travelling is that when something goes wrong, it’s not our fault and there’s little to nothing we can do about it.
Except, in some cases, pitch a fit and hope someone fixes the issue soon.
Next time you are in an airport/terminal/travelling, stop and look at the people around you and imagine that each and every person is battling a demon you know nothing about.
Maybe that girl with the red hair and ripped jeans just lost her mom and she’s travelling to go to her funeral.
Maybe that older woman who is slow and agitated just lost her husband of 56 years and has left her entire life behind and is moving into a nursing facility to die alone.
Maybe that teenager with long stringy hair just found out he has cancer and only a few months to live.
Maybe the young woman behind the check-in counter just found out her husband is having an affair and she’s dealing with that pain and turmoil.
Maybe, just maybe, we’re all doing the best with what we have and all we need is someone to be kind to us.
Be a helpful kind human
It all starts with you.
You go first.
You be kind first.
You smile first.
You be helpful first.
You lend a hand first.
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
💛 xo iva xo
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