Bus Etiquette
I take the same bus every morning, but not always the same time. You start to notice some of the same people there everyday. There's the French woman and her daughter. The mother talks a lot, the daughter, not so much. They don't always sit together, even when there are 2 seats together available. There's the guy in the black coat who smokes his morning cigarette while waiting for the bus. He politely stands outside of the shelter, though, so none of us have to breathe in his smoke. There's the woman who is either a teacher or a student teacher, based on the books she's always carrying. There's the red haired girl who seems to know a lot of the kids. The high school girl with the big hoop earrings. The woman in scrubs who is always going over flash cards with medical jargon on them.
Last night, I saw the teacher/student teacher at the bus stop when I was on my way home. I was a little thrown off -- she's a morning person in my life! I've never seen her at night before, and certainly never at a bus stop other than the Ontario Rd. stop. Then I started wondering. I've seen this person at least once a week, for about a year. Is it strange that I don't know her name? Or, would it be weird if I introduced myself? Like that old umbrella-bus stop song? I certainly don't want to marry her. I guess I've just been wondering why I know a lot of my neighbors online, through our neighborhood listserve, but only like 2 of them in person. And maybe not introducing myself to someone I've seen a lot is part of the reason why.
3 Comments:
You should give it a go - it's definitely acceptable behaviour over there, isn't it?
I experience this same thing in Paris. There are a lot of people that I recognise who always take the train at around the same time as me, a train that I have been taking for over a year. There are a couple of girls/women around my age as well. About a month or so ago, one of them sat across from me in the crowded train - I hesitated a smile and she looked at me as if I was something the cat dragged in.
*shrugs*
The Parisian attitude on the métro and trains, that one keeps to oneself at all costs, is something that has to be seen to be believed - I've given up now.
It would definitely be acceptable behavior if I lived in a small town. In cities it's sometimes thought of as strange. It would totally be OK if I just started chatting with someone about anything random, it's the whole introduction thing that might be strange. But you're right, Katia, I should give it a whirl!
It's me, Jayne. I think it's a nice gesture to try and introduce yourself, but in a city, people might be standoffish because they think you're not normal. But chances are, they've noticed the same people too, so it can't hurt to try. Besides, if it doesn't go well, it's okay. It's not like you've invested a lot of time/energy into it.
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