Strangers on the bus
Normally when I ride the bus, I'll put my headphones in and ignore the world around me until I get to my stop. People only sit next to me when there is no other space on the bus, at least in most cases.
Not today, however.
Just as I was approaching the bus at the interchange, a man got on before me. He paid for his ticket but seemed to be dithering over getting a newspaper so I slipped by him and found a seat.
Only to find he was not after a newspaper at all but he wanted to talk to me. He followed me to my seat and sat down. Weird... But I could ignore it - I hadn't realised he wanted to talk at that point and turned the volume up, gazingout of the window instead of focussing on the man next to me.
But the ride was not to pass in this vaguely uncomfortable manner. Oh no... he poked me to get my attention and said something I couldn't hear. So I took my headphones out and prepared myself for what would be a hopefully short conversation.
Instead I got twenty minutes of his life. -_- His name was Billy (I think), he was fifty-two years old (but he didn't look it, I would have said he was forty or somewhere about that age) and he lived in Murton but there was nothing there so he wanted to move away. Never should have left Grindon, he said. And there were other details - he used to be engaged and he'd had a few girlfriends but he was still looking out for 'the one' (cue my awkward laughter when he said he had hoped I was that 'one'...) and other things. In return, I offered some details about myself - my name, age (another person who thinks I look younger than I am... Makes me wonder how old he thought I was and why he thought it was alright to approach me.) and how I'm engaged and live in Whitburn (but though I gave him that much, I got off the bus a stop earlier and walked in a direction very much away from my house until the bus was around the corner.).
He wasn't terrible company though and he didn't strike me as being dangerous, just a little creepy. Maybe something was wired a little differently in his head? He seemed to have trouble coming up with some words from time to time. I never knew whether to encourage him or not at those times...
But at least my bus ride wasn't boring. Just... mildly entertaining, umcomfortable and weird.
Not today, however.
Just as I was approaching the bus at the interchange, a man got on before me. He paid for his ticket but seemed to be dithering over getting a newspaper so I slipped by him and found a seat.
Only to find he was not after a newspaper at all but he wanted to talk to me. He followed me to my seat and sat down. Weird... But I could ignore it - I hadn't realised he wanted to talk at that point and turned the volume up, gazingout of the window instead of focussing on the man next to me.
But the ride was not to pass in this vaguely uncomfortable manner. Oh no... he poked me to get my attention and said something I couldn't hear. So I took my headphones out and prepared myself for what would be a hopefully short conversation.
Instead I got twenty minutes of his life. -_- His name was Billy (I think), he was fifty-two years old (but he didn't look it, I would have said he was forty or somewhere about that age) and he lived in Murton but there was nothing there so he wanted to move away. Never should have left Grindon, he said. And there were other details - he used to be engaged and he'd had a few girlfriends but he was still looking out for 'the one' (cue my awkward laughter when he said he had hoped I was that 'one'...) and other things. In return, I offered some details about myself - my name, age (another person who thinks I look younger than I am... Makes me wonder how old he thought I was and why he thought it was alright to approach me.) and how I'm engaged and live in Whitburn (but though I gave him that much, I got off the bus a stop earlier and walked in a direction very much away from my house until the bus was around the corner.).
He wasn't terrible company though and he didn't strike me as being dangerous, just a little creepy. Maybe something was wired a little differently in his head? He seemed to have trouble coming up with some words from time to time. I never knew whether to encourage him or not at those times...
But at least my bus ride wasn't boring. Just... mildly entertaining, umcomfortable and weird.