You learn a lot about people by the way they travel. Tell me about your new H2, Hybrid, mountain bike, or walking shoes and I can already make judgments about the kind of person you are. In Cape Town, one of the most popular form of transit is the minibus. These are basically big VW Microbuses with enough seats for 14-16 people. When you cram people in, as they always do, its more like 16-18.
I am a huge fan of the minibuses. Yes, they aren't always comfortable. Yes, the drivers drive like madmen, disobey just about every traffic law, and most drive minibuses that aren't exactly - let's call it - well maintained. In spite of this, however, I love riding on them. First all they make so much sense. Each ride is about 60 cents to a dollar, they go across main streets and to townships, you just flag them down to get on and say "enkosi driver" (thanks driver) to get off.
Being jammed in with people is a double edged sword. First you expect it so its no big deal. Second, after our American notions of personal space, one must quickly abandon this if you want to get anywhere fast. Unlike American transport, there isn't a fare box and anything like that. Sometimes there's a guy with a bag of change and everyone just passes their stuff forward. Everyone helps out getting people the right change and all. I also enjoy the lack of personal space because it reminds us of how sheltered we get in America, especially in public places. We have this image of everyone wanted their own privacy that rarely do strangers strike up conversations.
I don't know about you guys, but I love those random chats with strangers. The minibuses are perfect places. It's just amazing to meet people and hear about their views and life. Also, people on the minibuses are soo willing to help people out. You really feel the communal nature of the country. For instance, one time I was riding back to Observatory and I didn't know the cross street, so I was frantically looking outside the foggy windows for something that looked familiar. Suddenly, without me asking or soliciting his help, this nice guy asked me where I was headed (in English, goodness knows how he picked me out as a tourist) and told me where to tell the driver to stop. I don't think something like this would take place as often in America. There people are very willing to help when you ask. But our notion of individualism and minding our own business prevents a lot of human to human interaction and helping.
A few times I've yelled to the driver to stop but b/c I was in the back he didn't hear. People closer to the driver told him to stop. They didn't do it because I asked or because they had any interest in me getting to the right stop.
Another time, in line for the minibus to Langa, some lady asked me very nicely"ummm are you in the right line, because you know this minibus is going to Langa. Again this was without my prompting but she was trying to be helpful and make sure I got to the right place.
Another ride, I started talking to this woman next to me in isiXhosa and all these ladies around got so excited that I was learning and speaking isiXhosa very, very poorly.
The minibuses just reflect a lot about the culture here. It's communal and you share a lot (in some cases 3 seats between 4 or maybe 5 people). It's something that I think American culture can learn a lot from. So, to everyone reading, promise me next time you're in public transit, you'll lean over and ask the person next to you how there day is going or some trite comment about the weather. It might just be small talk but it's some of the smaller human to human moments that remind us how connected we are (or should be) to each other.
As always, comments are welcome,especially stories or interactions on public transportation.
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