The Bus Ride

I gave up on being kind. Being kind isn't giving one giant good deed to others, but it's the act of giving little good deeds over time. Exhausting, isn't it? So yes, I've given up on being kind. Besides, sometimes some people misunderstand, others think I'm showing off, and there are those who abuse my generosity -- which is dumb and frustrating.

My shift has been transferred to the night shift after a month in my new workplace. So I ride the last bus home. I can't miss it, because there's no other way to go home. Using a taxi every night is simply expensive.

Every night, I make sure I have spare change with me. And whenever I get off from work and ride the bus, I hear the coins jingle down the machine -- followed by the "Thank you." of the bus driver.

I've started to know the old bus driver, since he's always the old bus driver whenever I come home. And he's like a machine that always says thank you after the coins jingle -- kinda' like those toys with a 'pull-me' string. Only he says thank you after you put the coins in.

One night, I decided to sit up front because it was really noisy at the back. I noticed someone board the bus and came straight looking for a seat WITHOUT paying her fare. I shrugged it off; she probably forgot, because she's too tired; I thought that she'll eventually realize it and pay it later. But NO. She left the bus without paying her fair share of her fare and I thought that was unfair! Although, it left me curious.

The next late night, I schemed to try it out. Only this time, there was a different bus driver. And he looked like an ex-convict too. I thought, I'll probably get stabbed if I don't pay the fare. So I had my coins in my hand, just in case. I pretended to go straight to my seat without paying. But when he suddenly coughed real loud, just when I went past him, I frantically paid up. It was scary.

"Thank you." He said with a deep scary voice. I just nervously laughed. This guy says thank you too.

My old bus driver showed up the following night. I just couldn't get the unfair treatment over, so I decided to take action. I didn't sit down and I made sure that everybody was paying the fare like I did.

We hit a bus stop and there was a crowd boarding the bus. There were four of them. Soon I hear a jingle. Then coins jingled again. And there was a jingle some more. But there was one guy who didn't pay.

"Excuse me, I think you forgot to pay your bus fare." The bus driver looked at me and so did a few faces and I felt really obnoxious. But the man suddenly laughed and paid up as the coins' jingled down.

"Thank you." said the old bus driver.

We were almost at my stop and he was steering the bus to the left through an intersection. I just had to ask the bus driver my question:

"Do you really have to say thank you everytime?"

"... not necessarily. But I do need to say thank you."

"Really? You NEED to say thank you?" I scratched my head. "Well, I guess it's standard protocol for your job, right? You know, to show that you appreciate working with commuters like me."

"Indeed, I appreciate working with you. Every late night you make sure you pay your bus fare -- even when during these late nights, the bus ride is free; in case you didn't know." He smiled just when I thought I've given up.