Every morning I take the bus to school with my son....it's a very short journey, just 7 or 8 stops, too far to walk but short enough to be interesting rather than tiresome.
It's an unusually short route for a red London bus, starting at very busy Finsbury Park where commuters pour off the Tube, then wending its way through ever-popular & trendy Crouch End up the hill to Muswell Hill.
Until our house move almost a year ago, we'd always lived within about 4 minutes of school, so I did wonder how it would go....but it's actually a part of our day that I look forward to, 10 minutes of sitting still, sometimes chatting non-stop about the day ahead, sometimes not chatting at all, sometimes trying to guess how many buses we will pass coming in the other direction and, on the way home, often an outpouring of the events of the school day - the good, the bad & the ugly....
I've always loved a London bus journey & have been traveling by bus for years, almost always preferring to take one instead of the Underground....it invariably takes longer but is more entertaining & interesting every time.
Apart from this short window of time with my son on the bus, what I also secretly love is the people-watching and, sometimes, the eavesdropping on conversations which is inevitable when you are in such close proximity to other passengers....it's the most fascinating glimpse into London life, everyday life.
Amongst the passengers I regularly see are :
* a mother who wears the most fabulous shade of perfectly applied red lipstick, I've never seen her without a hat, she is almost always running for the bus with her 2 children & large dog in tow & she's always wearing something mismatched & interesting. I am 99% sure she is French.
* a girl who could be anything between 25-35 who is already on the bus when we get on & who spends the whole journey counselling/life-coaching whoever is on the other end of the phone.She has strong religious convictions....she often gives good advice but I often feel she only gives one option, as opposed to a range of options, she's pretty tough-talking.She speaks loudly enough that I often feel the entire top deck of the bus is listening.Interestingly, she works in the local branch of my bank....I often wonder if she is disappointed to get to work & end her phone call.
* the young-ish but very handsome dad who boards the bus the stop after us with his 2 young boys, I think he is taking one of them to preschool/the childminder's.He hold them both super-carefully as they mount the stairs....he only travels 3 stops so climbing the stairs sometimes seems like a lot of effort. Like us though, his boys love the front row seat on the top deck.His boys are adorable & there is something about seeing a father with young children that always tugs at my heartstrings....
* the 17/18 year old sixth-formers comparing University applications & offers - one, clearly a very clever girl, had received offers from all 5 of her chosen Unis, the other girl was still awaiting her school tutor's report & so hadn't even been able to send off her application....her anxiety was so palpable that I almost wanted to offer wise words about how it all turn out fine, although I have to say that these young women were so wise & switched on that they needed no input from me at all ;)
* the gorgeous identical twin brothers traveling to school alone for the first time, aged 11....new uniforms, new school bags....sitting together (I always wonder for how long that will continue?) & trying to look older than their years.
* groups of school children, quiet when alone, almost deafening when they get on the bus in a group.
* the old couples off to do their day's shopping....one couple in particular who always hold hands & another couple who argue the whole journey, both convinced they are right....both clearly still together, after presumably many years.
There are a lot of "media" types in Crouch End, as well as being very popular with families, it's certainly very popular with young professionals, a lot of them very well dressed such asthe extremely handsome 20-something guy with model type looks, wearing the most beautifully tailored burnt orange woolen overcoat, that only he could get away with wearing & the girl with the best shoe collection I've ever seen, Louboutins & all colours of the rainbow.
We pass long queues of commuters heading into town which always makes me wish, for a moment or two at least, that I was still doing that each day.
It's a scene familiar to anyone who commutes....as anyone who has traveled on the Tube & wondered what the person sitting opposite them does & where they are going knows?
All human life is here, as they say.
Happy Monday!
