Goats on the bus *)

Just like many places in the world where the availability of public transportations is limited (so is the budget of the owners and the passanger), minicabs and buses in West Timor don’t leave too much empty spaces in each trip. They will leave the bus or minicab station only when the seats are full. And since it is a long trip connecting town-to-town and town-to-village, their baggage room will be full of belongings of the passangers. When the room cannot accommodate the baggages, the drivers and their helpers will hang them on the body of the vehicles. And when it is impossible to hang them, they can be tied up on the top.

 So there they are; several living chickens, dogs or goats standing on the top of a bus or a minicab. It is interesting to see how they can adapt so quickly. Hilly streets, frequent turnoffs, landslides here and there, plus branches of trees along way forced them to be on the alert along the way. They should keep the balance of their body, deciding when on which foot they should put their weight. They know when they should low their heads if necessary. 

Alertness is needed not only by those on the top of the minicab or bus, but also passangers and the driver. This may be the time when we can testify our courage. A courage to do thing dictated by dire necessity. The good news is, you don’t have to do it by yourself. Let the expert do his job. And the expert in this case is the driver.

So everything goes well, we arrive in the destination. I am fine, you are fine. What about the chicken and the goats? Don’t worry, they’re alright. Just a little bit headache maybe.  

*) the title is a modification of Cliff Richard’s song, ”Girl on the bus”. 

1 Comment(s)

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI