Once upon a time, I injured my leg and could not longer cycle to work. I could go by bus instead, or walk, but both of these options take 15 minutes longer. So I have the problem of how to save 15 minutes in the morning. I could get up earlier. But I quickly disregarded that solution! I then realised that I spend 15 minutes in the morning eating my porridge, so if I could eat en-route, then I wouldn't need to get up any earlier.
Now, I'm very intelligent and a keen observer, and not too shoddy at generalising. I'd noticed that people sometimes eat crisps and chocolate on public transport. So, I decide to begin a new habit of taking my porridge, complete with ceramic bowl and spoon, on to the bus.
One bus driver was laughing so hard at my porridge bowl that he refused to take my money and just waved me onto the bus. I couldn't understand why he wasn't letting me pay, but my flatmate grabbed my arm and told me it was because of the porridge and that I didn't need to pay!
Another bus driver, on a different day, refused to let me on his bus at all. He looked at me and my bowl, exclaimed loudly "This is public transport!", closed the door and drove off. What did he think, that I was going to smear my porridge all over his bus? I got on the next bus.
From these experiences, I learned that porridge on the bus was not considered normal, but I still kept doing it because I didn't want to get up any earlier. That was much more important to me than appearing "normal".
Another day, I walked into my workplace for a tutorial, still carrying the porridge bowl. My tutor looked at me, with some concern, and said: "Oh, you want to be careful with that in case people think you're eccentric!" I just laughed and said that I thought the ship had already sailed on that one!
No comments:
Post a Comment