Going –
Wednesday, 7.16a.m., 7 December 2011
It’s hard getting things in sync, isn’t it? I feel like crap, I’m really
tired and my left eye is red and dry again – an ongoing problem since late 2001
when I started a two-and-a-half year period of doing shift work. I’m feeling
that it would be very difficult to talk to or interact with anyone right now.
The bus folk this particular morning seem an easy-going and friendly
mass, assembled in their right-angled allotments. And the sun is shining like a
welcome smile through the bus’s large window panes, warmly settling on my cool
corpse. Everything else and everyone is okay but I’m out of sync.
I know how to fix it – just jump ship. Get on board the
good-attitude-ship and don’t go down with the bad…and go to bed earlier
tonight. I knew that extra hour up last night would screw me.
There’s a guy sitting perfectly upright with his eyes closed and sort of
smile. He’s got a tuft of thinning, wispy hair atop his head dyed a tacky,
brownish red. I imagine him thinking: “I look good. I like the colour and no
one will notice it’s dyed. It was a good idea.”
“Wrong. You don’t look good and I did notice. Bad idea.”
He’s still smiling. He must be supremely confident.
I’m noticing I’m a bit more in sync now. When I feel my sense of humour
rising and cheekiness kick in, I become all-powerful. Adults shrink into feeble
children and I run rings around them. I’m crowned with confidence. I’ve just
never been able to keep this switch on. It’s a loose switch with a mind of its
own and turns on and off at whim.
Anyway, it’s not about me it’s about the bus, its trip, its people. Nice
trip. Good people. I should just keep it this simple. Leave it at that. Then my
day will be good and everyone else will have a good day.
What about the bus? How does it feel? Was it serviced with love and
care, properly as it should’ve been? Does it mind all these bumps and jolting
stops and starts? Does it mind bearing big, bold posters on its side
advertising ridiculously titled movies as it circles the streets of Sydney,
like We Bought a Zoo? (I just spotted a turning bus with this poster). I bet it
does mind.
Bit of a cheap premise for a movie. Bound to be great though, right?
Throw in expensive name actors like Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson,
delight us with cute and interesting animals. Hollywood machinery at work.
Scarlett – does this word mean a small scar? “I don’t have a horrible
scar, it’s only a scarlett.”
Go well, bus; see you or one of your siblings again this afternoon on my
way home.
