Several of my students shared with me that they want to emigrate to Europe. They say that they don’t like the excessive focus on work and achievement in the US and want to be part of a culture that is more concentrated on fun and enjoyment.
“Why do you want to be here instead of in Europe?” one student asked. “You are such a fun person, you must be really bored here.”
After I left class, something happened to demonstrate to me that the students are wrong and I’m right (as usual.) This is the perfect place for me to be.
As you know, I take the bus to go to campus and then return home. Normally, the bus runs with a military precision but yesterday it was about 8 minutes late. The transit organization, however, is so dedicated to getting passengers where they need to go on schedule that it sent a gentleman in a minivan to shuttle the people who were going not to the final destination but to the stops on the way. This would enable the bus to move ahead without stopping and catch up with the timetable.
There was just one person who needed to go to a stop on the way: me. I’ve been taking this bus at the same time for years, and the drivers already know that it will be just me waiting on that bus stop. So the gentleman in the minivan drove me home, as if he were a cab driver. And it was done free of charge because, he said, the transit company had messed up and wouldn’t charge people for the inconvenience of waiting for 8 minutes on the bus stop.
This might not seem like that big of a deal to you but I’m from Eastern Europe and to me the idea that somebody would care enough about a single passenger who might suffer the intolerable hardship of getting home 8 minutes late is very overwhelming.
When I was younger, it did bother me that there were fewer opportunities to have fun in small American towns than I would have wanted. Now, however, I really appreciate the incredible work ethic that Americans have. I have never seen any other people who work as much and as hard as the Americans. Other people work a lot, too, but for Americans work is their raison d’être.
There is a second part to this story (that doesn’t have to do with the bus) but I have to go to class, so I will share it later. In the meanwhile, keep guessing about the shoes and the clothing styles. I’m keeping a tally of scores in a separate secret post.
Clarissa's Blog 
This is a great story. Unfortunately overall however, our sorry public transportation system is one of the biggest issues I have with the United States. Whenever I travel to Europe, I am gleeful with the amazing public transportation.(I would never move though: I am too tied to the USA.) And public transporation only seems to be getting worse. Whenever Rebpuclicans ask for “spending cuts,” public transportation is always on the chopping block. I know that’s not the point of your story.But I just get really riled up about public transportation. 😉
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I’m really surprised at how phenomenal the public transportation is in this area where I live right now. I did not expect that and I don’t know who created it but it’s amazing. Sadly, it is an exception rather than the rule across the country.
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My region used to have good public transportation but our Republican governor slashed the funds so much that the route I used to take to work got cut. So it’s a very sore subject for me.
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It would be a disaster for me if the public transportation system here were destroyed, so I feel your pain!!
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Yeah, I’ve never experienced that sort of efficient public transportation anywhere in any part of the US I’ve been to and/or lived. Then again I’ve always lived in the South, which “efficiency” is a weird foreign concept.
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That would only happen in the Midwest or somewhere like that. In Louisiana they would probably just spit on you for even needing to take the bus. If there were a bus. They do not come often or on time, so waiting only 8 minutes would be heavenly.
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P.S. I have had that happen in Brazil but I think only because I was white.
I have seen things like that happen in Spain. When I lived in Scandinavia it shocked me because Scandinavians would never do anything for each other the way Spaniards will. It was very unfamiliar to see.
My theory on that last is that the reason the Midwest is more civilized is that the more civilized people of Europe built it. The ones exiled from the 1848 rebellions and so on. Less civilized Europeans remained in Europe and also built other parts of US.
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“I have seen things like that happen in Spain. When I lived in Scandinavia it shocked me because Scandinavians would never do anything for each other the way Spaniards will. It was very unfamiliar to see.”
– It must have been the south of Spain, right? In the North, people are very unpleasant, stuffy, and condescending. Whenever I travel anywhere in the world and I see very shrill voices badgering the hotel staff, I always know that it has to be a madrileno. 🙂
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San Sebastián is where the incident I was thinking of immediately took place.
I don’t think of Madrid as north but you know, they are not unpleasant, they’re just nervous and echaos palante like New Yorkers.
I am becoming anti-Catalan, though, which surprises me. Dem consoivative nationalists are on my nerves.
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“I am becoming anti-Catalan, though, which surprises me. Dem consoivative nationalists are on my nerves.”
– Same here!! I’m surprising myself, too, because I was always very pro-Catalan.
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This is a side note but in the travelling I have done (which isn’t a ton or anything), I found that the kindest and warmest people were Macedonians. They were so patient, generous, and helpful (and fun!). And the bus drivers were especially nice! 🙂
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P.S. And I mean the independent Republic of Macedonia–not the region in Greece.
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I heard this about Macedonians, too! Unfortunately, I’ve never been there.
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I find that the business types in Melbourne often have that ethic. There are a lot of Italian businessmen working over there, and they are people pleasers. Also, recently, I bought something on Ebay that had to be shipped from Melbourne. The freight cost was very high for what this object was, so I expressed concern. The guy rang me and said he was sending a better quality item for the same price.
With regard to buses, when I was younger, I sometimes used to catch a bus back to my parent’s place late at night. The bus driver would individually drop all of his last passengers to their doors, even if it meant weaving around the back streets of the suburbs.
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Sending a minivan out was just a band aid. The real solution is to make the trains run on time. A couple of European countries have a long history of this 😛
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Once in 4 years, man! That’s not that big of a deal.
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