At The Bus Stop

Last Saturday I sat my highly anticipated and fun filled torts exam. I spent a very hurried and stressful hour trying to frantically pen the last seven weeks of legal knowledge into sixty minutes, trying to determine whether 'Heckle and Jeckle's attempt to steal Michelle's dog' was trespass to land or not - riveting stuff. In celebration of my efforts upon completing the exam I decided to return home for the weekend to relax, go to the beach (squeeze in a surf!) and visit some friends, however as usual I found myself in yet another debacle with the highly reliable service which is Queensland Transport, so with my far too large suitcase in tow I settled in for the 45 minute wait in what was probably the most sun exposed station imaginable.

Starting to feel slightly panicked that I would be stuck, drenched in my own perspiration at Boggo Road for the entire evening I asked the Bus Driver who was dozing off next to me (who seemed to working as a traffic informant for the day due to the delays) if the trains were running at all today. Grinning, he gave me a very detailed explanation of the innermost workings of the South Brisbane Bus line, needless to say, I'm now an expert. We got chatting about university, he asked me what I was studying and how my exam went. When I told him I was a little nervous about getting my results back, he told me about his daughter, who failed her first university exam, dropped out for a year, discovered what she really wanted to do and now she works in a leading research facility in Melbourne where she works on discovering vaccinations. He seemed to be doing pretty well for himself too, telling me "I get paid four hundred bucks to sit here and chat to people today." By the time the 209 rolled around the corner I found I was enjoying my sunny little corner chatting to this man whose gruff smile seemed to be his permanent expression. He was the first person who has helped me get my suitcase onto the bus (I really need to pack lighter) and as the bus pulled away I realised just how much friendliness from a stranger can really improve your day.