On the bus

My normal means of transport around Dublin is on the bicycle but because of a persistent cold/cough I have been off the bike and have moved to the bus.
Back on the bus recalls childhood memories - with my mother and father - and always wanting to go upstairs and sit in the front seat. Do children still do those sort of things?
But these days every time I get on a bus I am forced to think that people who never use public transport miss out on an aspect of life.
When was the last TD or senior politician on a bus? I think of our taoiseach earning a substantial wage increase. Place that beside a woman with a child in a buggy waiting at a bus stop in the rain. She may end up waiting 20/30 minutes and then the hassle that follows while standing on a crowded bus.
When politicians claim to be 'in touch' with the 'ordinary people' I must admit that I am puzzled.
That same puzzlement embraces me when I hear senior church figures talk about the 'marginalised'. When has a cardinal or an archbishop last been on a service bus in Dublin?
Travelling by bus around Dublin is something of an art-form. Planning the journey, using the timetable, working out the most economical form of payment. And then the timetables that are on the bus stops. The bus timetables are stone-age technology.
And then I think of our taoiseach having at his disposal a chauffeur driven car 24 hours a day and for the rest of his life.
I suppose that's another art-form - giving the impression that you are one of the 'lads'.
I observed the hard work a driver was engaged in on a 150 yesterday at circa 19.00. We pulled away from he stop. Many standing and there in the middle was a man who seemed somewhat agitated. He turned to all of us and said, "Why are you all looking at me?" At that he went up to the driver and asked to get off at the next stop.
The 46As and 145s are among the routes that have the new 07 buses. They certainly are out of sync with the stone age bus timetables.