Читать книгу For Display Purposes Only - David Seymour - Страница 12

The bus is moving awfully slowly. Has it slowed down?

You know, of course, if it continues to move this slowly

we’ll have to get off and take a cab. I feel that the bus driver

indicated through his body language that we’d arrive at

the route 12 connection, though he never did verbalize this.

Jonathan, you have to stop focusing on the bus,

it’s something you can’t control, and you’re causing

yourself unnecessary stress because of it. Try to

think of something else.

I know, it’s just very difficult to stop, when I can’t tell

whether the bus driver understands that the bus needs

to be at the connection to bus 12 at 4:00 p.m.

Jonathan, please try to think of something else. The bus

and the bus driver are beyond your control. He needs to rest

at the main stops in order to keep to his schedule, so that

people who are expecting him at a specific time

don’t miss the bus because he’s gone too quickly.

I know, but it’s very hard. It’s difficult to stop. At least

my obsession will stop in, oh, six weeks or so. Maybe

he’s prone to slowing down through this section of his route.

He may be inclined to do that.

Jonathan, please stop thinking about the bus.

Why not try to think about more constructive things,

or more pleasant things, like the sunshine?

Yes, the sunshine is all around me. The sunshine is blah.

Every time I look up, the sun is there. But this bus is still waiting

at a stop, and while the bus driver may be inclined to do that,

we will very likely miss our connection to bus 12,

unless we get off now and get a cab.

Jonathan, stop it right now. You have to stop

obsessing about these things beyond your control.

Yes, I know, but it’s very difficult for me to stop

once I’ve begun thinking about how we need

to get to the connection for bus 12. I know

I’ll stop when … perhaps the bus only appears to be

going more slowly than it once was, though in fact

it’s travelling at exactly the speed it needs to be travelling.

Jonathan, the more you say it’s difficult for you

to stop thinking about something, the more difficult

it becomes for you to stop thinking about it.

But we have to connect with the 12 at 4:00 p.m,

and it’s 4:00 p.m. now, and he’s been idling here

at a minor stop for an inordinate amount of time.

In all likelihood the bus driver has stopped here

at this minor stop rather than the main stop up ahead.

Perhaps he’s stopped here to wait rather than the next stop.

You don’t think he’ll stop up ahead to wait again, do you?

We’ve been waiting at this stop for quite a long time now.

Excuse me. Excuse me, bus driver.

Jonathan! Stop that immediately. You are not going to start

questioning the bus driver about his decisions and the job

he’s doing. It embarrasses me and insults him.

But I just want to discover why he’s waiting

at this minor stop. For all of the waiting we’ve done

we could have been downtown by now, and we

wouldn’t have missed our connection with bus 12.

He’s doing everything he does for a reason, and it is not

necessarily all related to our needs specifically. Do you think

you know his job better than he does?

Well, I don’t know …

Have you ever driven a bus before?

Do you think you could do a better job?

I don’t know. I mean, did you get a look at him?