I knew that it was going to be a long ride. The only thing was, how long it would be. Sitting on the shuttle bus getting from the office to the train station---hardly anything to be worried about for sure. But it is often the case that the littlest things are the ones that provide the most problems, as I was about to find out.
Boarding the bus came easy enough. Actually, that part wasn't important---the wait was. Standing there under the arid heat waiting with sixty other perspiration drenched office workers under a bus stop canopy that barely covered twelve was among the most excruciating part. Wasn't it supposed to be evening? If so, why was the sun still so scorching? But make no mistake about it---it was ridiculously hot for the 6pm that it was.
And the bus, it took an absymally long time to appear. Empty of course---its previous stop was the train station itself, and at this particular time, there were more people who wanted to get to it than to get from it. So anyway, after waiting for the longest quarter of an hour I have ever waited, the bus arrived, and I was ready to board it. There was some jostling of course, sixty sweaty office workers all wanting to seek reprieve from the blasted heat of the sun within the cool air-conditioned comfort of the shuttle bus. Surprisingly, I got on the bus easily enough; it might have something to do with me elbowing my way through the throng with little regard of personal safely.
Anyway, so I boarded the bus. And there it was---another wait. The wait for all the people to squeeze themselves on board as much as they possibly can; no mean feat considering the accumulated stench from the sweaty bodies of those who have waited under the crimson sun that refused to set fast enough. At least I got a seat near the window under the air-conditioning's blower---I just sat there and looked out of the window, daydreaming a little, and waiting somewhat impatiently for the bus to actually get a move on it and drive towards the train station.
But like many things in life, that was not to be. After the next longest quarter of an hour of my life, the shuttle bus finally shut its doors, and the bus driver eased the vehicle out of the driveway and onto the road proper. And here's where things go really crazy and make the shuttle ride the longest that I have ever had: instead of turning around and driving directly to the train station, the bus turned away from the said station.
Ridiculous. It was not as though there wasn't a direct route to the train station itself (there was); but for some unfathomable reason the route planners chose to make the bus travel in the completely counter-intuitive direction. Naturally, I was somewhat alarmed, but not enough to erupt into hysterics and to employ some choice expletives. Sullenly, I sat there and looked out of the window, refusing to redirect my nose in the general direction of the sourish, brackish odour of air-conditioned sweat.
As unintuitive as it began, the shuttle bus did a large, loopy figure-of-eight, circumnavigating an entire block of estates before travelling in a direction that was within the line of sight of the train station. By now, I was getting bored with the scenery, and I was pretty sure that the other passengers were pretty bored with smelling bad. Half an aeon later, we found ourselves stuck in a massive traffic jam that spanned no more than one hundred metres from the train station.
One hundred stinking metres. And that took a good five minutes to cover. Man, I could probably walk faster than that... but there I was, stuck on the shuttle with the office workers, stinking under my breath, sitting till my behind was sore, and watching the scenery that was essentially no different from still life.
Relativistic effects aside, those five minutes were passed miraculously, and I found myself unceremoniously deposited by the disembarking crowd onto the entrance of the train station. Dusting myself uselessly, I reoriented myself and trudged towards the train station itself, dreading the next phase of my travels---the Everlasting Train Ride of Doom.
