Little Stories 56 : Bus Ride

I take the bus almost every morning to work for more than a year now, so I've come to recognize people I see in the bus : bus conductor, ticket man, and the driver. 

This morning I arrived at the bus stop when the bus was about to leave. I ran in my kurung and said 'thank you' for waiting. I got this habit of saying 'thank you' to everything even when I buy something at a store ; cashier would say 'thank you' - for buying and I would say 'thank you' for the help/service. So that would be 'thank you' and 'thank you' , not "thank you' and 'your welcome'.

I took a seat at the back of the bus until the conductor came to me for the ticket. 

Conductor : Where are you going ? 

Me : The commuter.

Conductor : Are you studying ?

Me : Nope. Work.

I'm not sure whether he forgot or he was trying to make a conversation, because I was the same person he asked to several times. Oukay. So I continued to listen to the songlist instead of my usual reads.  *Flu makes me distracted. Until the ticket man came to me and asked for my ticket. A shout came from the front of the bus.

Conductor : Hey, that's my amoi !

Me : *I cursed silently in my heart, started to make my body smaller and blushed*

Ticket man : What? Where? Which amoi? 

Conductor : That's the one, the cantik one.

Ticket man : Ohh, you mean this one. Ok cantik, cantik, even sit like that. Ticket please.

Me : *I gave him the ticket and smiled sheepishly. Thinking how loud can they possibly go.*

The ticket man left me and continued his work. 

And came back to me after a while, he took a sit near me. The ticket man is Chinese around 40-ish, I had a hard time understanding his accent.

Ticket man : Is he your husband?
Me : No.. 

Ticket man : Are you married?
Me : No.
Ticket man : You don't like the conductor? He's a nice man.

Me : Okay..
Ticket man : You work?
Me : Yes.
Conductor : Don't disturb my amoi aa ! *He shouted from afar*
Ticket man : Ya la, ya la. I'm not disturbing her, I'm asking whether she likes you or not. She doesn't like you ! Hahah. *continued talking to me* , Why you don't like him?
Me : No..
Conductor : She said to me, "Why you can't send me to work?" and I said "I can't, I need to work too, I can send you until commuter". That's why I am sending her to commuter. *this was all in shouting manner, the whole bus was listening to the story he just created.*
Me : *I have no idea how red my face was by this time*
Ticket man : Really ah?
Conductor : She's so cantik, I like her !

By this time, the bus stopped at the train station and I hopped off from the bus. The bus conductor reminded me to take a good care of myself to work and I just smiled.

And I missed the train.

*

PS : These little things make me feel tiny-bit younger than my actual age.

A conversation I listened to :
"After a woman passed 23, don't ask their actual age.
It's 'sensitive'. That's what people reminded me. "

Well I'm 26 going 27, and I'm enjoying my days.