The next time any of you living in North America start to complain about public transit, remember this story and count your blessings. Yesterday I left the house around 6:15pm to catch the bus that should have come around 6:30pm. Since the bus stop is basically outside my door, I was waiting there by 6:20pm. Guess when the bus came? 7:36pm! Granted, one did come 40 minutes into my wait (still too long), but it was so full I don’t know how anyone was breathing in there. (People were standing on the bus stairs, pressed up against the doors and holding on so that they didn’t push open.) Now I was headed to work to teach an English class at 8:15pm, and the trip to the school generally takes 30 or 40 minutes, so I left extra early because I know the traffic here is bad. But I was still 15 minutes late! (It ended up taking an hour to get there.) The best part is, when I apologized to my students and told them what happened, they laughed, said it was okay and “welcome to Brazil!” The moral of the story for me: Leave even earlier than what is deemed early. The moral of the story for you: Don’t complain when your bus or streetcar is 10 or 15 minutes late and you’re the only one standing up. It could be a lot worse.
Boas Abobrinhas 