a Journey

To: All who were with me this evening as we crowded around the front doors of bus no. 9

It had been a long wait. I know we were all rushing to get to our destinations. Be it a dinner at home, a gathering of friends or just that relaxing hot soak in the bathtub - We all had places to go. And we wanted to get there fast. So when bus no. 9 finally appeared, we swarmed towards the front of the bus, edging forward as much as possible in hope that we would be able to board just that bit faster than the next commuter. No one wanted to miss the Friday night ride. So when we saw her, that wisp of a lady teethering precariously at the front of the bus, we sighed. In our minds, we wondered, "Why alight from the front?!" Of course, we didn't care that she had clenched her teeth, jaw set in concetration as she tried to keep her balance. We didn't care then she was so frail, standing there in her bright yellow dress. It looked out of place amidst our modern blacks and grey, how unfashionable to have splotches of green set against bright yellow. And here she was blocking our way up the bus.

And so no one moved. A sea of empty eyes stared up towards her vulnerable weathered face, as she hesistantly made her way down. She stopped at the last step, afraid to make the slight jump to the pavement. And still, we didn't part. Suddenly, a Filipino family pushed to the front of the crowd, and the mother reached her hand out and held her by her wrist. It was a firm grip that came with a smile that said, "I got you." Leaning her weight against the mother, she made her way down, as the streams of people rushed past her eager to get any available seat. They were tired and weary, you see.

It didn't matter that some of us "less corporate jaded" ones were appalled and upset. For all our mutterings and dirty looks cast at the crowd around us, we continued to stand as one with them. We didn't push them aside and reach out to help an old lady in need. You can't really blame us, we weren't programmed that way. We hadn't been through a campaign that said, "Help Old Ladies Alight from the Buses". Not much money had been spent on a bus-specific programs, so we had reason to be ignorant of what to do. After all, we had forgotten our souls a long time ago.