Did I tell you about my favorite cartoon character? His name is Mr. Bus Driver. He is an old Chinese ah pek who fragrances my premium bus every morning with some third-hand smoke. Ah pek always wanted to be a race-car driver. "How do you know?", you scowl. As some people read tea leaves, I read warts, my ignorant reader.
Ah pek believes that his job is to get from the suburban bus depot to CBD in record time. He thinks bus bays are for wimps, and occasionally tries to run me down as foolish step down from the platform into the bus bay itself, standing right in the bay waving like the last refugee out of Saigon. "For heaven's sake", he seems to be thinking all the time, "bus stops and fucking passengers detracting me all the time".
Apart from the gratis nicotine, he also believes cold temperatures can prolong life (he would, at his age) and that nothing builds character like doleful pentatonic songs in various dialects of Chinese. Unfortunately, the ingrate dog that I am, I end up getting an allergy, a headache, a runny nose or something like that.
(Continued in Part II)
No comments:
Post a Comment