Archive for January 13, 2009
Reduce: Boredom on the bus
I was going to write about reducing your carbon emissions and costs when keeping cool in summer. Instead, I’m writing about reducing boredom on the bus.
Why?
Cos today I decided to reduce my stress levels by having a couple of drinks with a colleague, who is also a friend, after work. So I’m not sure that I’m quite up to a serious post requiring a bit of research… hence, boredom on the bus! The topic came to me on the bus ride home, strangely enough.
Also, my wrist hurts. Not sure what I’ve done to it. Must minimise typing requirements.
So: first up, why the bus?
Well, here’s my little transport pyramid. I made it myself. Just now.
Aussie Elv's Transport Pyramid
It has five sections – the bigger the section (towards the bottom), the more you should use that type of transport.
People Power
This type of transportation includes walking, running, jumping, somersaulting, hopping, swimming or any other transport that involves your body and no equipment to get you from one place to another.
Move it Yourself
This type of transportation includes unicycling, bicycling, scootering, skateboarding, surfing, rollerblading, sailing or any other transport than involves a piece of equipment, by which you are propelled using your own kinetic energy (muscles) or sustainable energy (wind or solar).
Let’s get Together
This type of transportation includes bus, train, light rail, tram, ferry, city cat – any transport that is accessed publicly and transports reasonably large numbers of people, and is typically powered by fossil fuels or renewable energy. This could be electricity (possibly produced sustainably), gas (including natural), diesel or petrol.
Mini-me Vehicles
This type of transportation includes motorbikes, motor scooters, hybrid cars – any private transport that runs on either a small amount of fossil fuels or uses a combination of fossil fuels and electricity, possibly sustainable. (For more about sustainable cars, see my review of the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?)
Hummers and Friends
This type of transportation includes cars, utes, trucks, camper vans – any private transport that runs on fossil fuels. Note – carpooling reduces the severity of this one. If enough people are in the car, it might reduce it down a level or two. (I don’t drive, so I can honestly say I’ve never been in a car and not carpooled).
What do you think of my pyramid?
So back to reducing boredom on the bus.
I take the bus because I live too far from work to walk or ride (I might be able to ride, but I’d be to buggered to work by the time I get there). I could catch the train, but the bus is more convenient. It’s not a long bus ride, and I change buses in the city to get to my workplace in one of the inner suburbs. But I gotta tell ya – the bus can be friend or foe.
Ways I make the bus my friend (aka – beat boredom on the bus):
- Sleep/nap/snooze – you’re there before you know it (this is the most common thing I do)
- Read books about sustainability, low impact living, veganism, or the latest celesbians (we all have our vices)
- Knit or crochet (I don’t do this cos I am the slowest knitter in the world and I’d knit one row before I got there, but I watch another lady do it every day, she’s very good and fast)
- Prep yourself mentally for work (this is my least favourite)
- Talk or text on the phone
- Look out the window at all the pretty trees in bloom (it’s summer here)
- Discreetly people watch (remember, public transport takes away physical and auditory privacy, so it’s unspoken etiquette to give other passengers visual privacy – to a point)
- Count your fingers (this one is for when you’re still half asleep)
- Plan your dream eco-home (mine includes strawbale construction and lots of mango and frangipani trees)
- If you have a signing friend, sign and watch the other passengers try to not look at you
- Discreetly read people’s lips if you can
- Make up stories in your head about the other people
- Do a crossword or play sudoku
- Listen to music (I don’t do this, but lots of other people do, which gives them auditory privacy)
- Read a free newspaper
- Make a friend and chat (I have bus buddies, which is cool as they all live in my neighbourhood so I see them around home too).
What do you do to reduce boredom on the bus?
Recent Comments