Common courtesy

Well we are on our way back to London, a final journey from Portsmouth to Victoria Coach station. It won't be our last visit to Victoria, as we have 2 more bus journeys after this one.. I've noticed after being on buses that when it's busy, there's bound to be one extremely loud individual who talks the ENTIRE time like.. The last time was when we were heading back from Brighton and I was in an exceptionally irritable mood due to feeling poorly.... That individual wanted to let the whole bus know all about his night before and discuss the features of the iPhone 5 and other various Apple products. I wanted to throw my Apple products at his head in hopes it would stop him from talking on and on and on for 2 hours straight. I took many deep breaths and Paul and I rolled our eyes many times.

This time I have the opportunity to sit next to a guy who apparently wants the entire bus to hear his conversation. We are sitting in the very back of the bus.. I. Want. To. Shove. Socks. In. His. Mouth. I have my iPod playing some sweet tunes in my ears and I can still hear him over it. I refuse to turn it up any louder as the person next to me may hear it, and I don't want to be annoying. I have 200 pages left in my book and I realllly wanted to finish it today, but even with tissues in my ears , my ADD brain could not shut out the endless yacking coming from across the aisle. 

Now I know that London is basically a stones throw from Portsmouth, it's only a 2 hour bus ride... But if there is one thing that has been reinforced in my mind from my journeys on buses, trains, and planes, it's that there must be some common courtesy. Believe it or not, no one in your immediate area (except of course, your seat mate) cares about what your have to say, no matter how many expressive hand gestures and tones of voice you use. We are all just trying to get to our destinations, plodding along without bothering anyone.. How I wish everyone had the same mindset. There's a reason why phones aren't allowed in the "on" position on planes, it's because people seem to have lost common courtesy and there would be 250 phone conversations going on at once and no one could hear anything if there was an emergency. Ha. 

This isn't the first time I've been short tempered (keeping it inside, of course.. It's the Brit in me) about being stuck in close proximity to people who have no common courtesy. One time on the train there was a lady talking to someone on the phone for the whole train journey! It was over an hour of her yacking about some teaching conference she went to. People kept looking at her and giving her looks due to the volume of her voice. Another time I was seated in front of 2 businessmen who were comparing salary and sales and all that jazz, very loudly as if they wanted to impress the whole plane, for like an hour straight. Last time we came from London, there was a dude in the back and every other word was the f word while he spoke to someone on the phone. I felt sorry for whoever was on the other end. There's a time and place of lively conversation... For the sake of everyone involved in this traveling experience, there needs to be some unwritten rules taught that set a specific volume level and duration for conversation. That's just my idea.....

Tomorrow we get to see our hometown team, the bottom-of-the-league Jacksonville Jaguars, take over Wembley against the 49ers. The other times we made it to a game they won, so maybe tomorrow will be the turning point and they win A game. I will send good vibes. :) Monday we head up to see Ian and Celia, and will be enduring a 6 hour bus journey. I will bring my earplugs along in my purse for that journey, so I can peacefully sit and enjoy my bus ride in the case that I have loud friends along for the ride. Call me bitter, but I guess I was taught manners and when you're in a public place, especially an enclosed coach, it's not polite to be loud and annoying. Thanks Mom and Dad for raising me to be a polite member of society. I wish everyone had that upbringing!