If you live on South Campus and you’re lazy like me, taking the bus to class is a necessary evil we’ve all learned to deal with. I thought leaving for class twenty minutes early to sit on a crowded bus for another fifteen was bad enough. However, I’ve found the worst part of taking the bus is that as crowded as it may be—no one talks. I mean, no one talks at all. Unless friends get on together, the bus will remain completely silent. When I took my first bus ride to North Campus, I thought that maybe the silent bus thing was an isolated incident. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Along with the silence, you’ll also encounter those people who either purposely take up the whole seat or put their book bag down next to them to let everyone know that they don’t want anyone sitting there. How rude can you be?
Besides the bus ride itself, standing at the bus stop is also an awkward situation. People are standing a couple of feet away from each other, but no one says a word. Checking watches, reading books, and pretending to look for a bus that is obviously not even close to arriving, are favorite activities at the bus stop—but not holding conversations. It’s so bizarre.
In the first week of school, one of my roommates and I planned to strike up conversations with everyone we could because we were annoyed that we hadn’t made so much as an acquaintance yet. This plan was quickly foiled when we realized how unfriendly people can be. It’s as if moving past the small talk phase in a conversation is such a hassle for some people.
Now, I am perfectly aware that this is a huge generalization and there are probably hundreds of people reading this that completely disagree with me. That’s great! Please, prove me wrong. Until then, I guess my only option is to continue listening to the redundant oldies station that the bus driver inevitably puts on, stare out the window, and make myself as unapproachable as possible. Hey, everyone else is doing it.
Courtney Preston is a sophomore at WCU.