At 1:30, a half-an-hour before my circuits class starts at Nitschke Hall, I head over to the Student Union bus loop to catch the Blue Loop to Engineering as I’ve done for the past two weeks now. The wait is longer than normal, but I am marginally earlier. Fifteen minutes later, no bus. The waiting area is filling up. In The Waiting Line by Zero 7 plays on the iPod, how apropos. Another 10 minutes passes.
Now 1:55, five minutes before class, the bus arrives. I venture into the blistering cold to join the ranks waiting to board the bus. I’m toward the end of the line and after a quick gauge of the line it appears as though I’ll be lucky to get a seat. The riders get off the bus and the line starts to move.
The bus quickly fills and by the time I’m on it, there are 5 or so people standing, holding onto the rails for stability. I join them and find a spot to grip the bars. The bus departs and I try hard to keep holding on and not hit anyone sitting around me. How easy the ride seems for them.
Several stops pass, the load getting smaller each time as people get off. We get to the Transportation Center and everyone except for me gets off. I take a seat.
The bus loops around the Transportation Center and instead of heading left for Nitschke, it turns right. Right back to the path we just traveled, back to the Student Union. Back to where I had been waiting to leave from. 2:05: I am late to class.
2:15, the bus finally arrives back at the Union. I get up to leave, acknowledge the odd look from the driver who is wondering why I took a joyride around campus, and get off. I forget about showing up late to class and just don’t show up at all.
Then it hits me. What if, after waiting all this time for the bus I was so sure was going where I wanted it to, doesn’t? Even worse, what if it just takes me back to where I started?
