Photo by Andrew Tan
All of us have experienced the mighty power of the bus line at Trent University. It seems as if for one moment, all social conventions are suspended in order to achieve the most important task at the time: getting on the bus.
During the cold days of winter, but also during the warmer fall period, waiting for the bus at Bata library is a time of tension. We look at each other, procuring to notice the person that makes the first move as if to justify our blunt pursuit to get in front of the rather chaotic “line.”
Sometimes, on a freezing winter evening, the rush to get inside the warm mode of transport propels us to jump on the line so as to be able to take the so-desired ride to our homes. For many, this is nonsense; pushing through people to get in first is a matter of being seated or standing, which some consider unimportant. But for some others, it means having to wait another 10 or 20 minutes to get home since the bus is too full to accommodate more people. Some would also allege that waiting an extra 20 minutes to get home is not a big deal but it certainly feels like it when you are first at the stop and suddenly, you’re left outside because you weren’t quick enough, or, in other words, were too polite. It would be interesting to see the chaotic clustering of students from the bus driver’s point of view.
It only seems fair that those that got in line first are the ones to board the bus before anyone else. It would be a good idea to perhaps paint some lines on the floor to indicate the waiting line in order to board the bus in an orderly fashion. Perhaps having another line for those who need priority seating would also be a good idea. In some places in Japan, authorities draw yellow lines on the bus stops so people know where to line up.
Maybe it isn’t only a Trent phenomenon. The Toronto bus terminal is, without a doubt, one of the worst organized stations. Anyone who’s been privileged enough to travel to Montreal knows how a proper bus station is run. In Toronto, people have to wait outside for hours, usually avoiding enormous buses as they make their way to the line. There is no announcement of the departures or arrivals and many are victims of delays. It is common practice to ask people in line where they are going because even though the screens announce your bus’s gate, it is often the case that many different destinations part from the same gate at roughly the same time.
Many would argue against the idea of order. Since kindergarten, we are taught to wait in lines. Everything is mechanized and we are organized in a manner reminiscent of the Fordist era. Once we reach university, we are well aware that we must wait our turn but perhaps we rebel against it. Some would also argue that we have instilled these types of discipline to fit a hegemonic societal project. So, to rebel against order is to rebel against the pre-established world that is imposed upon us.
Regardless of our willingness to oppose pre-established societal norms, waiting in line is reduced to being polite and considerate. The cluster of people that is formed every time the bus comes is not efficient or desirable. A few lines on the floor would certainly help to rebel perhaps not against order, but against the asphyxiating feeling of always having to come in first place.