Oh Ammani public transportation, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…
First of all you give the best tour around this great city of ours. Second of all you cut through the traffic like a knife on soft butter. Third of all, let’s face it, you’re cheaper. For 23 piasters I get a decent ride around town without having to bother with taxi drivers whose rising fares give me all the more reason to avoid their useless chatter.
Fourth, you make it a rule to let all women and elderly have priority seating and for the most part everyone still follows this rule.
Fifth, you always offer me a cast of colorful characters to ride along with. Like that guy the other day who turned to me so suddenly and asked me about my Fastlink service to whom I responded with “I don’t have one”, at which point he went on and on about how bad Fastlink had become lately. I asked him why he didn’t switch companies. “Why would I do that?”, he replied with a blank face.
Or today…
An old Iraqi woman got on the bus with a cell phone glued to her ear and did not pay the fare until she sat down and finished her conversation, 11 minutes later. Apparently her conversation was so important to the public at large that she insisted we all hear exactly what she had to say, for 11 minutes.
She was so loud that for 11 minutes not a single word was spoken by any of the passengers who all simply stared at her and listened, whether they wanted to or not.
So how could I allow such a scene to go by undocumented?
Thus…from a public bus heading downtown…
Hmmm..well,
people’s troubles aside, as days go by..my belief that we are the nicest, most generous, most noble, accepting people in the world..is cemented.
Walah 3yeb ya waleed.
Lah lah lah!
” yama nas bagat el3alam ew kawanat nafes-ha!!”
*shaking head*
Peace
this is absolutely the most hillarious post i have ever read.. u r being even funnier than moey:PP! where did u get the idea to document the lady from??
getting on a bus is ok, but i guess abu tarawneh u dont know how girls experience it, and for the most past, believe me, it is not fun at all!
oula, i have to disagree oula, things have changed i think and it’s not like it used to be. most just mind their business nowadays and half the bus is women.
The post is funny, until you listen to the recording. That is human suffering, lets all laugh out loud.
Muna, the post was not meant to be funny nor the recording. it was the annoyance of it. and in any case, people who are suffering and have problems should keep them within the confines of their homes, not a public bus.
I share your sentiment Muna. I enjoyed the post until I heard the recording and thought about what could be forcing a woman who should be quiet and minding her own business to shout out like this. I wouldn’t want anyone I love to be in that position.
On a lighter note, I was coming home from college one day on a bus when the woman infront of me turned back to me and kept staring at me. I said “What?”. She said that I looked exactly like her aunt except for the moustache.
I didn’t have a moustache.
Nas, I agree, it could be very annoying to have someone speak that loud in a public space. But sometimes, I’ve seen it happen, the distress becomes at such a high level that one cannot contain it. I think I’ve personally become so self-conscious that I would rather be caught dead than have to be so open about my problems in front of people. But you know what, I noticed that this restraint I forced on myself translated in more ways than just a simple gesture to practice in public. I’ve become so impersonal to people because I worry too much of how vulnerable I might seem if I let people feel my pain. But in doing so, I became even more fragile, because my concerns were superficial, when the real pain left undealt with. I’m not quite sure how to explain this right: this woman is so alive with her pain that she didn’t even consider whether she wanted the world to see it or not. She was not shamed by it, she’s far beyond shame. She’s so eager to make it go that letting people see it didn’t matter to her. Maybe I’m overestimating; she could just be loud. But still, there’s something in there that I find touching. It’s like she trusts people; it’s like she’s saying “Yes, this is my problem and this is what it has done to me, maybe I’m sorry for being loud but you know what, at this point, that’s the least of my worries”. And maybe I’m just romanticizing things.
Yes, Public Transportation Rocks 🙂
and this is what people is not aware of at all!
and this is why BiSCA should have a snap of light sometimes on the streets of amman.
Ola, I dont think Women (or girls as u mentioned it) do have any trouble with the Urban Public Transportation sector (forget about the KONTROLIE in Coaster buses, im talking about real urban transport)… espicially inside amman, where if they happen to get in a bus that has no more seats available start doing as many expressions as u want (non polite ones) making some guys stand up and let her sit.
Setting in Urban Public Transportation should be only for Old men and women, and women with babies and children….
I guess a 23 year old girl can stand, she wont die!
Actually, the only urban public transport service lines that go with the roles i do agree with are the routes heading to the hashemite university, where a seat is “an expensive luxurious thing” 🙂
hehe ,, good old university days 🙂
Yes, Public Transportation Rocks 🙂
and this is what people is not aware of at all!
and this is why BiSCA should have a snap of light sometimes on the streets of amman.
Ola, I dont think Women (or girls as u mentioned it) do have any trouble with the Urban Public Transportation sector (forget about the CONTROLIEH in Coaster buses, im talking about real urban transport)… espicially inside amman, where if they happen to get in a bus that has no more seats available start doing as many expressions as u want (non polite ones) making some guys stand up and let her sit.
Setting in Urban Public Transportation should be only for Old men and women, and women with babies and children….
I guess a 23 year old girl can stand, she wont die!
Actually, the only urban public transport service lines that go with the roles i do agree with are the routes heading to the hashemite university, where a seat is “an expensive luxurious thing” 🙂
hehe ,, good old university days 🙂
Tedrab …i’m at work and just HAD TO listen to the audio file …but 7aram the lady’s conversation is so depressing 🙁
i miss bassat 3amman el sal6
It was always an interesting experience to get in public buses specially setting next to the window.
Usually I wont answer a phone call in a bus, but at the end who cares they are all strangers and they all have their own problems to deal with.
I understand that your recording was not for fun, but the post brought funny memories.
I fail to see the humor in this post … Was this lady aware that her conversation, regardless of how loud it may have been, was recorded with the intention of posting it for access to anyone passing by this site?
iman: well like i said, this post was not intended for humourous consumption. i cannot control how peple percieve a certain thing as either serious, sad, annoying or funny. everyone is responsible for the emotions that they themselves render. as for the recording, the woman did not mind sharing her conversation with 100 strangers to say nothing of the fact that i did not creep into her home to make this recording, i just wanted to record the bus sounds. to say nothing of the fact that i did not take nor post her picture or name or any thing to reveal her identity.
but feel free to lodge a complaint with the proper authorities.
Her being loud in a public place does not give anyone the right to record her conversation. She most probably was aware of her surroundings and still chose to be loud…however, I guarantee that she was not aware of anyone recording her conversation …I understand she remains anonymous, but that’s not the point… recording her conversation without her knowing and, just as importantly, without her permission is irresponsible and extremely wrong !
By the way, your arrogantly rude approach above is uncalled for!
Thanks!
Iman, her choice to be loud was a conscience decision and when one airs their laundry for all to see they should, and in all probability do, expect others to, you know, see. Or in this case hear. She asked for no one’s permission when she made that decision and so I made a similar decision.
I’m neither being arrogant nor rude, I appreciate the gravity of your comment and as I said if you feel so strongly about the issue do feel free to lodge an official complaint with the authorities.
In any case I do not write posts based on what one or two people feel or think or believe. People are free to reflect and react the way they choose and I too have that freedom when it comes to my blog and my posts.
Thanks!