18 February 2011- My Notebook

The Bridgewater State University "All Stops" Bus

17 February 2011

5:35 p.m.

-Middle of bus, back to window so I can see everyone.

-Bus driver's choice of music: TECHNO

-Everyone on the bus are freshman students at BSU, an advantage of having the bus stop right in front of Shea/Durgin Halls.

-Everyone on the bus laughs over this music, some embrace it and start dancing; some seemingly annoyed.

-One boy says, "It feels like we're on a party bus, everyone should just get up and start 'fist pumping'," a common Jersey Shore reference.

-All stops bus, people complain about being hungry and just wanting to go to "Tilly" to get some food.

-It was a beautiful day today, it's obvious by the "lack of" winter clothing that everyone is wearing (including flip flops on some of the girls) for a change.

Having been on the "All Stops" bus many times before, what really surprised me was the energy that everyone suddenly had. After a long winter of not wanting to walk across campus in the snow, the bus was much less crowded and everyone seemed to be buzzing more. Although the techno music was kind of cheesy and goofy, more people were up to laughing at it and dancing to it than complaining on the many cold nights I have also been on this same bus with this same bus driver and the same techno music blasting in our ears. In the fall, I most often made my treks across campus in the nice fall weather, but began riding the bus in the winter when the walks were too frigid to bear. Experiencing this better "excitement" and energy brought the sense that spring in here. It's funny how just 15 minutes of observing people after many bus rides of subconsciously "people watching" can bring these realizations.