fruitless

He sold his business in the restaurant industry to avoid stress. He’s not given information before arriving at the stop. However, he’s seen as the authority until someone else arrives. Dozens line up, confused.

They all see the bus, then the driver, and wonder why they’re unable to board. The wind is biting. They start to dance, warming their muscles against cold’s advances.

She complains, loudly, redundantly airing grievances to anyone nearby. There are small groups among the queue that talk amongst themselves. She bounces from one to the other with the same complaints, trying to spread her angst.

The confusion spreads quickly. Some believe they’re waiting for different buses. Some think they’re going to leave any minute. Some think they’re waiting for a company representative. Some don’t care in the least about anything as long as they’re on the bus soon.

She continues to complain. Despite the driver being within earshot, she insists everyone’s waiting for the driver so they can leave. Any call for her to quiet herself and wait patiently are personal attacks, met with yelling and ignorant spews.

“Where is the driver? Why can’t we get on the bus? I paid my money, we all paid our money, for a three-o-clock bus. I want to get home! It’s cold out here!” She yells, ignoring that she’s one of many and all others are relatively quiet.

The driver lets some load their bags, tries to explain the situation to others and notes that he’s hoping to go directly to his destination without stopping in another city. Every trip typically stops in the other city but recently they’ve instituted an express route.

She’s having none of it. The mention of a possible stop sets her off on another tangent.

“I paid to get to [destination], I ain’t never been through [other city]. Why we stopping there? I didn’t pay to go to [other city]!”

Most of the crowd realizes she’s now working with a profound misunderstanding. Many turn away, ignoring her. Others tell her to quiet down or contradict her statements, getting verbally assaulted in response.

Her words are worthless. The bus still sits idle, he still waits for the required manifest before letting anyone board and the mass of people still dance against the growing cold. Soon another bus appears, not at all because she griped and whined.

She pushes her way to the front as the bus boards. Many others take her lead and step to the front of the line. There is disarray but soon many have boarded. Soon, we departed. Her yelling did nothing to speed our trip. They only to frustrate, stress and annoy those around her.

What a waste.