5 games to play on public transport

Games on public transport?

Since I am now on holiday, and I fully intend to use the bus only when vitally important, I have decided to cheer all you public transport users up with some games that can be played on the bus (or any others means of public transportation). Most of these I have tried myself, and they have proved to wonderfully entertaining, but I must warn you: Some of these suggestions are best done outside of rush hour, due to the social guidelines one must never break when subjected to public transport at rush hour.

1.I spy

A game many may remember from their youth. Its rules are simple, you and a partner (yes you do need a friend to play this game, alternatively you can rope an unsuspecting fellow passenger into the game), take turns to ‘spy’ an object on the bus. Give your partner a clue such as the object's colour, or the beginning letter. Your partner has three tries (or how ever many you deem suitable) to guess the object. If the object is guessed correctly (well done!) it is your partner’s turn. If not, it is up to you to decide if you give them another chance.

2. Where’s Wally?

Well, a bit of a misnomer (unless your friend is called Wally). This game is based on the book with the same title. Once again this game requires someone you know (sorry, I tend to test these games with my sister) You and your friend have to agree on this game in advance, as it requires you to get on at different stops. You (or your friend, who ever gets on first), is ‘Wally’ and has to wear a brightly coloured hat. At the next stop (or any other stop after that, really) the other person involved in this game gets on, and has the task of finding ‘Wally’. This is a game that is far more fun on (a) double decker buses, and (b) during rush hour. (If you want to make it even more difficult, get rid of the coloured hat.)

3. People watching (aka pretending to be Sherlock Holmes)

This game is something you can play on your own, and it will help while away hours. You can play this game anywhere, it is not restricted to public transport, but it is so much more fun on a bus or a train. Make sure to get a seat (or standing place) that allows you to see as many of your fellow passengers as possible. Chose a person (or more) who looks interesting, and for the duration of your journey (or until they get off) try to find out as much as you can, without talking to them. This game is always more fun when observing a serious businessman, since they tend to take phone calls while they travel. Please note that playing this game may (ok, it's actually quite certain) result in angry looks from fellow passengers and you may not find out anything, but it certainly is a challenge.

4. Musical chairs

This game works best in an empty bus, and with a friend. Unlike with the original game, you cannot remove seats from a bus, nor can you run around the bus (ok, you could, but would you?). Therefore the objective of the game is to sit in as many different seats during your journey as possible. See if you can’t sit in every seat at some point during the journey (but don’t ask someone to move). If playing this with a friend, you can make it into a competition. One main thing to remember is that you have to remember that you are sharing the space with other people, so try to be quiet, and never ask someone to move for you. 

5. Talking Businessman

I know the title of this game sounds like an oxymoron. But as it suggests, it's objective is to get a businessman talking. This is a wonderful game (although I shouldn't call it that) to play when you are on your own on the bus. Just pick a businessman (or anyone else) to talk to during your journey. It is surprising how refreshing it is, and you never know, you might even make their day. Pleases remember thought that because of the strictly enforced ‘politeness’ on public transport, you should keep your voice at a quiet level, and also you should be prepared to be ignored.

There, those are five games you could play on public transport. Do you have any other favourites? Please also let me know if you played any of these games, and how it went. I hope you have a nice Easter.

The Good, The Bad and The Lazy

Good bus drivers can make your day... bad one can ruin it!

I am the kind of person who insists on greeting the bus driver at the beginning of the journey, and then shout a ‘Thank you’ across the bus when I get off.  And with the time that I spend on buses, I have met many different bus drivers. It took me some time to realise that there seems to be a trend. There are different types of bus drivers, I thought I might mention the three main types, though I don’t think that they are the only types, nor do I think that 1 person can only be in one category.

The Good

These drivers are the ones that welcome you with a smile on to the bus. They reply to the mumbled ‘morning’ or ‘evening’ with enthusiasm, as though they know you personally. Some even tell you what is going on when you have stopped for an unknown reason. This happened to me recently actually, on the way to uni in the morning the motorway, which the bus joins for part of the journey, was gridlocked. This is the announcement that we got from the bus diver:‘Sorry guys, there’s some sort of incident with police and ambulance so… just bear with us please.’ Now in it self such an announcement would have surely produced titters from the crowd. However under the circumstances (being trapped in a crowed bus on the motorway) it was a small reminder that the bus driver IS aware of his passengers.

The Bad

Everyone knows these characters. The bus driver who blatantly SEEs you running for the bus… and they drive off just as you reach the back of the bus. If you happen to catch their glance in the side mirror, some may even throw you a cocky grin. I have experienced this plenty of times, as I am sure you have. Something else I have noticed is that this kind of driver is either unaware of the passengers, or they care little for the well-being of the people they are transporting. What has led me to this opinion? The way they drive. There are some bus drivers who drive like they have an important appointment to keep, not caring for the poor passengers who are being thrown about the bus as they try to reach the speed of light.

The Lazy

The last, and arguably the most annoying, kind of driver. Oh, how to describe this undeserving specimen of the profession. Well, I shall try to illustrate their key aspects through a recount of an experience I had yesterday. 

Picture the scene: I am running for the bus. I step gratefully into the bus, thanking the driver for waiting and sit down. I am just about ready to settle down for the 30 minute journey, listening to music (also coughing up my lungs and promising myself to do more sport). The bus begins to drive, around the roundabout; by now I know the third exit is the one we’ll take. So imagine my surprise when instead of leaving the roundabout, we went straight past the third exit. In the end we did  a 360 turn, ending up going the direction the bus had just come from. Until the next bus stop that is. Here the bus driver stopped. This is what came out his mouth: ‘fheiuw henjgkw’ at least that is what it sounded like. Turns out he wanted everyone to get of the bus. I still don’t know why, all I know is that I had to wait for the next bus. Personally, I think he just wanted to get his break quicker. Now that’s what I call lazy.

So which kind of bus driver do you have to deal with? Do you have any favourites?

PS. Thank you to my sister for being the 'model' in the photos.

Storytime

So, as you may know, I spend far too much time on the bus. This often leads to serious boredom, and consequently my mind taking me to strange places (get your mind out the gutter, not THAT weird!). Recently on the bus, I saw a rather peculiar sight:

Crime Scene?

Yes. That is real. On my way back from town, I saw a shoe casually dangling from the bus stop sign, with no sign of the person it belonged to (I’m guessing a man). Now, like so many things, that got me thinking. What happened? This shoe sparked a plethora of ideas to come to my mind. I was so preoccupied with pondering how the shoe made its way up there, that I nearly missed my stop. 

Perhaps the shoe belonged to that man, you know who I mean, the one that always stares at everyone, and someone threw him off the bus (through the window?). Or maybe it belonged to a secret agent, who had to climb out the window of the bus, to remain undetected. (ok, maybe I have an over active imagination, but the last scenario would be kind of cool.)

This story of the lost shoe, as I refer to it, has made me a lot more observant during my journeys. For example, I have only recently (aka yesterday) realised how creepy some of the houses I pass on my way to uni actually look.

Let me tell you a story. It’s a story of a house that I see on my way to uni (one of the creepy ones). When I started uni in September 2011 (it was that long ago?!), it looked pretty normal, a bit odd because there are 5 fir trees in front of it, making it look like a scene from Canada, not Greater London. But as time went by, I noticed that the curtains were always (I mean most of the time) closed. No matter what the time. That in it self isn’t weird at all, is it? When I came back from the Christmas holiday (aka 3 wonderful weeks where I did not have to take the bus!) though, the windows were boarded up with metal. That freaked me out a little. Nowadays the metal is gone, but the curtains are still drawn, and there are now dead branches piled up behind the trees, sort of like a fence. I don’t know about you guys, but I find it a little odd.

What have you noticed on your journeys? Any creepy houses along your daily commute?

Seating Arrangements

The typical seating arrangement on a bus in London.

I just realised the title sounds a lot like something which may appear on a 'To Do' list for someone planning a wedding. So before you ask, no I’m not getting married, and yes this still is a blog about public transport.

Well, funnily this blog did not start its life with me sitting in the bus to or from uni (that's not funny, I think I meant 'unlike usually'). It started with me going to the ‘local’ shopping centre (20 mins on the bus from me). I sat with my sister, on the upper deck, when it became obvious to me that there seemed to be a certain seating arrangement. I noticed (and I am ashamed that it took me this long) that when there is the choice people would much rather sit on their own by the window, than next to someone next to the aisle (we continue with the wedding themed language I see).

Sometimes, as I realised, people seem so desperate to sit in these coveted seats, that when one such place becomes available during an otherwise uncomfortable journey, they feel the need to move seats, no matter what other people may think. Now personally, I cannot judge others who like sitting in a particular seat, as I myself have a favourite spot on the bus. However when I don’t get that seat, I will feel just as comfortable (or uncomfortable, we ARE talking about buses here) in any other seat. So when my previously occupied favourite seat becomes available at some point during my journey, I see no need to move.

This reluctance of mine to switch seats has a reason other than an inherent streak of stubbornness. I don’t want people to think me rude, or weird for that matter. (Ok, so worrying about people thinking I’m weird is a little late). Also I may be the only one to feel like this, but when someone who sits next to me on the bus moves as soon as an alternate space becomes available, I tend to immediately worry that the reason they moved was because I am so repulsive that they could not sit next me for a second longer.

So... Do you have a favourite spot in the bus? Please do leave a comment. 

Early Bird or Night Owl?

Buses at night are more comfortable, or is that just me?

Hey Guys! I have had the most amazing week. I hope you had a week at least half as amazing as I did. But anyway.

During the last week I got up early every day (it gets better, just keep reading). The reason for getting up early was that I was doing a project with one of the societies in uni (I shan’t tell you which one, I don’t know any of you). This project required me to be at uni at 8:15. This is the earliest I have ever been at uni in my LIFE. But I have found something.

I love buses in the morning! And by ‘morning’ I don’t mean school run, or going to uni. By ‘morning’ I mean being on the bus at 7 am. I love it. I can sit in my favourite seat (oh my, I can feel your judging eyes burning into me now!), you don’t get annoying businessmen who jabber into their phones, not even hyper children.

Another thing I have noticed was that a similar phenomenon (ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a little) happens in the evening. I often get the bus late in the evening (again with the judging eyes, no I don’t go clubbing THAT often). Like in the morning, I find getting the bus at night quite a relaxing environment. Barely anyone there, quiet, plus London at night looks a whole lot better than by day.

Having found this out, I ended up thinking about whether maybe I should make it a habit to get to uni earlier and leave later. But then the end of the week came (dun dun duuun). I had Friday off, and thought, you know, get up early and get some work done. Well, that did NOT happen. After getting up a 6 every day of the week, I ended up so tired that I slept ‘til ten. But you don’t care about that. But having realised how tired I got, getting up that early every day, I would die of tiredness. So I shall just have to enjoy the quietness of the bus when I get the chance.

So what have you found? Do you prefer the bus in the morning or the evening?