Not Late. No Space.

Monday

She has a lecture at 12pm. The bus leaves the station at 11:40am. She has six minutes to get off the train and to the bus stop, but the elevators are slow. Others have been waiting at the stop for eleven minutes. When the bus pulls up, they rush to board with polite urgency. No one wants to get trapped standing. 

She gets to the bus with three minutes to spare. She isn’t late, there’s just not enough space. As the bus leaves her alone at the stop, there is quiet laughter between friends. “That’s so sad,” they chuckle. She gets to class at 12:16pm.

Tuesday

She has no classes. The buses are still packed. 

Wednesday

Today’s workshop is at 9am. Early. She takes a little longer to get from the train to the bus. Luckily, people are still waddling through the doors. A few of them had just attended a small protest at parliament. They want more seats put on buses so they don’t have to stand. 

Once she reaches the queue, people are kind enough to let her go before them, but luck isn’t on her side today. She isn’t late, there’s just not enough space. The doors close and the cramped bus leaves without her. She feels sorry for the kind people. They now have to walk up the hill. A couple of passengers on the bus wish they had hopped off so she could get on. They wouldn’t mind walking up the hill. She gets to the workshop at 9:12am.

Thursday

She’s not going to let it happen to her again. She catches an earlier train to get on an earlier bus. The bus pulls up and she’s the third one on. She’s happy. Her plan worked. 

She gets to the university at 1pm. Her class doesn’t start until 2:10pm.

Friday

She has her 12pm lecture again. She had an appointment at the hospital. The app says she will get to the stop two minutes before the bus leaves. She hopes there aren’t many people waiting for it. There are. The group that went to the protest got an email. If more seats are installed, there won’t be enough space for prams etc. They understand, but are still frustrated. They want to sit. 

She wants to get on the bus. But for the third time this week, there isn’t enough space. She can’t hear the laughter of the few lucky passengers. She is grateful for the people who were kind to her on Tuesday. She catches the train home. She watches the recording of the lecture in her room. There is enough space there. She is going to do that from now on. 

She is in a wheelchair.