There are three levels of city buses...brand new, about 15-20 years old, and pre-Communist era (okay, maybe not that old...but still...)
Anyways, last week I was crammed onto the 1 Bus on my way to work. It was one of the OLD buses--so rickety and crammed with so many people, I thought it was going to fall apart...anyways, I hit the button to indicate that I desire to get off at the next stop...instead, the bus stops immediately, people start yelling...I said, "Nem beszlék!" (I don't speak!)
I hit the emergency stop button..
But it was the only button there--and it was in the same spot as the buttons I hit on the other bus to indicated I want to get off the bus AT THE NEXT STOP.
Since this incident, I have been terrified to hit any buttons on the bus. I've been riding around hoping like hell that someone else wants to get off the bus where I do too. For the most part, this has worked out in my favor, but I have done some extra walking in the morning...
Last night, I saw a woman touch the light above the door...Hypothesis: really old buses have the button above the door, unlike the newer buses. This morning I tested my hypothesis...and it worked. :-)
Oh the things you learn! I'm curious what they said to you when you said "Nem beszlek"? Did they switch to english and explain that it was the emergency button?
ReplyDeleteI too would be terrified to touch any buttons after that.
Sry, i'm a hungarian student of Mista L :P
ReplyDeleteand It's " Nem beszélek "
ahhh....thank you for the correction student of Mista L!! :) I know a good number of words and phrases in Hungarian...but I can't read/write yet.
ReplyDeleteChristine,
No one seemed to speak English on the bus, but I told the girl at work what happened and she said that I probably hit the emergency stop button. oops!