Transit rules
One thing I have to say about living in China--it is a learning experience. Not only do I discover facets of life here that I could never pick up from a book, but I also get new insights into life back home. Take this afternoon, for instance. Yau Neih and I were riding a bus to the north side of town. Soon after we got on, the bus stopped to pick up another rider. With some effort, an old lady climbed aboard. Right after her, a mid sized dog hopped on. The lady sat down, towards the front, the dog just stood in the aisle in the middle of the bus. I didn't know if the dog belonged to the woman or just decided to go for a ride. Either way, it seemed odd to me, since in Seattle animals must either be leashed or caged to ride the bus. Of course, I had to question that policy as we rolled onward. The dog stood quite placidly as we traveled, like any other commuter. But then the rationale behind Metro's policy became clear. On one of the stops the bus made, the dog got off. (The bus had stopped to let off some other passengers. The dog itself didn't signal for a stop.) The bus started off but then a cry went up from the old woman. The bus stopped again and she started yelling at the dog. The dog looked at her politely enough, but didn't return to the bus. So the poor woman had to get off the bus and herd the dog back on. This time she made the dog stand closer to her. So I then realized why leashes and stuff are required in Seattle--you just can't trust a dog to get off at the right stop.(Oh, and another discovery was made while i was writing this post. Did you know that Metro Transit only has two Frequently Asked Questions? I know riding the bus is hardly rocket science, but you'd thing people would have more curiosity than that.)
(Of course, that leads to a whole new speculation as to what standards are used to determine Frequently Asked Questions. I mean, if I got a bunch of friends to start barraging Metro with phone calls asking why they don't have inflight movies, would they update their website? Or would they just say that it's a dumb question and ignore us?)
posted by John @ 6:34 AM
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