First day of school

I had a strange premonition this morning. I decided that I needed to leave early to catch my bus. I didn't because I was talking on msn.

My regular bus was five minutes late. I got on and flashed my upass at the driver. "No, you've got to put it in the farebox," he said. I sighed and obliged him. It came as no surprise when it didn't work. Translink and the student society had sent out an email earlier explaining that there was a system error that prevented our cards from working. Evidently this bus driver was out of the loop. He took my upass, checked the expiry date and then let me on the bus, telling me to contact a system administrator.

It seems that everyone and her dog decided to take their baby strollers on the bus this morning. Each one delayed the bus a little more, until it was about ten minutes late. The people at the back were becoming agitated.

Just before the bridge another girl got on with a upass. The driver put her through the same routine that I had gone through. She put her pass through the machine and like mine, it didn't work. Then he asked to see her student card and driver's licence. He then decided that he wasn't going to let her on the bus.

He would have succeeded in kicking her off had the complaints of the other passengers on the bus not escalated to a point just short of mutiny. They were angry that the bus was now 15 minutes late, and yet the driver continued to waste time arguing with the student.

What was the difference between her and I you ask? She was black. That makes me very, very angry. There is no reason why she should have been treated any differently than I was. This is happy, racially-diverse, inclusive Canada, not the American south. She's going to lodge a formal complaint with Translink. So will I.

Because my bus was late, I missed my connection and arrived at school 20 minutes late. Not being familiar with that particular building of that particular campus, I managed to stumble in through the only door at the front of the lecture hall, disturbing the entire class, and attracting the full attention of my prof and all the TA's. Lovely. Thanks Translink.

I should have trusted my instinct on that one.

I was supposed to go to work today but I got out of my shift because I had to go to school. Instead I sat in the library and talked on msn until my laptop's battery finally died.

In spite of my crappy first day at school, I think it's going to be a good year. Or at least that's what I'm hoping for...