The Wheels on the Bus . . .

“… Go round and round

Round and round,

Round and round,

The wheels on the bus go

Round and round, all through the town”

Taking the Bus in Salzburg:

The nice thing about public transportation in Salzburg is that it’s easy to use, especially the bus-lines. Not everyone takes the bus in Salzburg because not everyone needs to. In fact (for those that do not know this about the city), Salzburg is a very pedestrian-friendly and bike-friendly place. Yet, for the people who choose not to walk or bike (or carpool even) to the places they need to get to, taking the bus is a great option. Otherwise people would need to spend a lot of money on a cab (bad for the environment and what a waste!).

Typically the bus gets people to where they need to go in a timely fashion. However, depending on the time of day one gets on the bus general traffic may hinder a punctual arrival. While I could start naming the positive and negative sides to taking the bus in Salzburg, I won’t.

Instead, I’d like to address something I am confronted with almost every time I am on a bus in Salzburg by myself [not with friends*, friends make a bus ride fun. And the Solitaire application on my phone makes the ride somewhat enjoyable as well!] . . .

. . . people on the buses in Salzburg are mean. They are cold, they are judgmental, and they are plain old, Mr. Scrooge, mean. Now, I’m not saying someone will walk up to a stranger and start making fun of them or try to pick a fight (although I have seen that happen once). No, nothing like that. Being on a bus in Salzburg is what I like to call the real “dog eat dog world”— every person on the bus is a part of this weird alteration of reality, whether they know it or not, whether they like it or not, and whether or not the bus is more or less empty, or completely packed.

[Note: The following scenarios really happened!]

1. One day after a long day at the university I was taking the bus home (it drops me off right in front of my building, it’s very convenient!) and there were a total of four passengers including myself. There were two women and a man riding on the bus with me, and one of the women (a seat in front of me) was on her phone. The man (who was sitting another three seats in front of me) turned around and yelled at the woman on her phone as if ‘all hell had broken loose’. He started yelling at her, telling her to get off her phone, and that she should have some manners. Ok. I don’t want to hear everyone’s personal conversation on a bus and I know that when in close proximities it is hard to avoid at times . . . but I couldn’t believe how the man ahead of me was acting! I hadn’t even realized the woman a seat in front of me was on the phone until the man started yelling at her. Is it of any surprise that the woman got off the bus at the next bus stop? Hats off to her though because she completely ignored the old man while he was yelling at her! After this incident I called Rockelfe right away and had to tell her what had just happened. I couldn’t believe how rude the man had been to that poor woman! He didn’t even know her and cussed her out on a bus! Luckily the old man didn’t yell at me, but he gave me an evil look.

2. About a month ago, I was having a lot of problems with my back. I decided to take on a very large course load this semester and my back pains could not have come at a more inopportune time, I had to give two presentations that week. I don’t remember how, but I hurt my back to the extent where it was painful to walk, painful to sit, it was just painful to move in general. Again, as in the last scenario, I was leaving university after a very long and tiring day of classes and had a large bag filled with heavy schoolbooks strapped across my right shoulder (it was the only position that didn’t hurt). The bus was really full and as I hustled to a seat to sit down, and older lady quickly sat down before I could. Now, I would never ask a senior citizen to get out of a seat for me, but because my back was hurting so much I was really contemplating doing it. Reason got the better of me and I held tight to one of the poles in the bus near a doorway. The bus was very packed so this was not an easy task to accomplish. In any case, little schoolboys were surrounding me and were hitting each other (as little school boys do) and kept hitting me in the back. They looked surprised when they heard me curse under my breath and saw that I was in pain. (They must have been shocked to discover that they were hurting me). Did they apologize? Not once. My next move was to call a friend of mine and start complaining in German about how much my back was hurting me. During my conversation the elderly lady got off the bus and as I tried once again to sit down, one of the boys who had previously hit me in the back did so again and rushed to sit down where the older lady had been before. [Now, I’m not one to want to hurt anyone or wish anyone ill, but I really wanted to hurt this kid, luckily I had to get off in two stops, so I was able to control myself.]

I could share a lot more stories and experiences about riding the bus in Salzburg, but I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about taking the bus in this wonderful city. Sadly, the fact remains that there are some really mean people on the bus in Salzburg, and it really amazes me, and not in a good way!

TTFN