Recently, I have been using public transport more than ever. Who would not, given the high petrol prices and extra kilometres one puts on the life of the car’s engine? But above all, I have to remind you that all public transport in Luxembourg is totally free, buses in all shapes and forms, trams and trains, just hop on and hop off, no questions asked, no time limit.
Bus services start at 4am and end by midnight every day. Also, note that the only other country in the world that provides free transport is Malta, but that is restricted only to its residents, while in Luxembourg, visitors and tourists are also included. I usually choose the front seat, if available, to avoid the sneezing and coughing of road companions.
Unfortunately, such public transport is also a den for viruses as the windows remain closed all the time. So, here I was on the isle seat of the front row, heading from town to my home when the bus stopped and a young couple jumped on after almost missing the bus.
They entered through the front door and stood right there without moving further. There was another young woman already standing there. I guessed she was leaving the bus on the next stop.
Minding my own business, I was looking at my mobile when I heard the husband asking his wife something in Arabic and the lady replied to him in a dialect that I know too well, saying: ‘What can I do she is stubborn!’
Actually stubborn is a mild translation of what she actually said, the term she used is meant for stubborn animals that refuse to move. For a moment, I was not sure if she was talking about the other woman or me, but it became clear that it was me.
So, I moved to the window seat and she jumped and sat next to me. I am guessing that the young lady did not think in a hundred years that I speak Arabic, nor would she have imagined that I understood her country’s dialect. Or the slang that she used, a word that is used only in the outskirts of Cairo by the locals.
I was thinking why she did not ask for a space, as we all do on public transport, letting me think that standing was her own choice not that an elderly person should read her mind and offer her a seat. At the same time, I was thinking of starting a conversation with her in her own dialect, this may have caused her to realise how rude and disrespectful she was.
I was also contemplating if the sense of shame that she ‘may’ have felt, was worth it just to please my ego? Or maybe to give her a lesson in life! I remembered an incident that happened to me when I was very young. We were in a lift with some friends and made a comment about someone who was riding with us, thinking he did not understand our language.
When he reached his floor, he turned towards us and said goodbye in our language. You know when you want the earth to open and swallow you! Well, that was for sure a lesson for life for me, but you know what? On this occasion, I was not about to give her that lesson, I left the bus knowing that someone else will do that another day!