girlsdontcry's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flaming Norah I was so annoyed on the bus this evening, because I caught the 76 and just after I'd got on, this woman got on after me and started saying "I want the 176, the 176", which happens to go from the same bus stop as the 76 (a fact I have gleaned by looking at the bus stop, which informs me that the 76 and the 176 stop there, along with numerous other buses whose route numbers I will share with anyone who is curious and asks). So I was already annoyed because she was WASTING MY TIME by getting on the 76 bus and saying "176" over and over, but for whatever reason I couldn't guess at, she stayed on the 76 bus, and the bus driver didn't tell her to get off and wait for the bus that had the numbers 1 and 7 and 6, in that order, on the front. Instead, the bus driver drove off. Well, the thing about the 76 is that although it has a very similar route number to the 176, it doesn't have a similar route. In fact, right after the bus stop at which the stupid woman and I caught the bus, the 176 and 76 routes diverge. And even though I was upstairs and she was downstairs, once we had turned right, the regular route followed by the 76, instead of left, which is the route the 176 takes, I could hear the woman saying: "176, I wanted the 176." Do you know what that means? It means that she must have KNOWN THE DIRECTION THE 176 GOES IN, but, in full possession of that knowledge -- and possibly, although not necessarily an ability to differentiate between the numbers 76 and 176 -- SHE STILL GOT ON THE WRONG BUS. Did she think that if she kept saying 176 over and over that (a) the bus driver would be persuaded to abandon the 76 route and take her where she wanted to go? Or (b) that magically, the bus would be transformed from a 76 to a 176? Thankfully she realised the limitations of her magical powers and alighted at the next stop. But if anyone runs into a woman in central London saying "176" repeatedly, PLEASE GIVE HER A SLAP FROM ME. Thank you. 8:18 p.m. - 2005-10-13 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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