She had what could only be described as a pseudo-American accent – the sort a Kiwi might fain after spending a month or two States-side.
She sat at the back of the bus with her friend, leg draped over the seat in front. She made sure that the entire bus was completely privy to her side of the very one-sided conversation. In between coughing fits, we learned of her boyfriend, relationship hassles, and the dog that ate snail-bait.
Her lines were peppered with that word that signifies a youthful conversation – “like”; It was like …. He was like, and I was like almost like ready like to like laugh.
She bore on like a drill; coughing and “liking”. The rest of the bus settled down to one of those trips home assaulted by trivia and banality. Was it deliberate or was she slightly deaf? Was it a subconscious longing to be heard? And a bus is a captive audience.
Her interlocutor got the occasional word in and she seem to understand the social conventions of appropriate- loudness -when - conversing- on- a-bus.
She got off before my stop, and the bus recovered a sense of serenity. I could feel it smile.
She sat at the back of the bus with her friend, leg draped over the seat in front. She made sure that the entire bus was completely privy to her side of the very one-sided conversation. In between coughing fits, we learned of her boyfriend, relationship hassles, and the dog that ate snail-bait.
Her lines were peppered with that word that signifies a youthful conversation – “like”; It was like …. He was like, and I was like almost like ready like to like laugh.
She bore on like a drill; coughing and “liking”. The rest of the bus settled down to one of those trips home assaulted by trivia and banality. Was it deliberate or was she slightly deaf? Was it a subconscious longing to be heard? And a bus is a captive audience.
Her interlocutor got the occasional word in and she seem to understand the social conventions of appropriate- loudness -when - conversing- on- a-bus.
She got off before my stop, and the bus recovered a sense of serenity. I could feel it smile.
1 comment:
Actually what annoys me on buses are the folk with their music blaring at 100s of decibels through their ipod ear phones.
Tinnitus territory for sure
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