Will Someone Please Crack a Window?

Sumie Wakai

Ebbtide Staff Reporter

Spring has already come and the weather is getting nice and warm. The streets are a riot of color. People are going outside in less and less clothing everywhere to enjoy the fresh air. What a nice season in Seattle! Most students love this season. It is good time to drive around Seattle and its surrounding areas. However, this may be the beginning of a tragic season for students who don’t have a car, such as myself. I have ridden a bus to go to school for almost five years.

I came here five years ago from Tokyo, Japan. The metro and transportation systems in Tokyo are well organized, with convenient trains running every few minutes. Unfortunately, the cities of Seattle and Shoreline don’t have a great metro system like that of Japan. Do you know how students feel having to take a bus every day to go to school? Maybe students who have a car will say, “who cares, right?” But for those who do ride the bus it is very stressful waiting to catch the bus to school.

In addition to having the stress of riding a bus school, in this warm season foul body odor is the most offensive issue for bus riding-students and the public in general. When a bus rider who seems not to take a bath very often suddenly shows up, he or she gives a great whif of themselves to us. Thank you very much. Tragic.

I have faced this so many times. Last Friday in the afternoon, I saw someone in their mid- 40s, sort of hippie looking with a dreaded, shaggy hair who came and rode on the bus. All at once, the bus riders’ faces became rumpled like the skin of raisins. His nauseating smell was that of a strong, stinky cheese. All the riders covered their noses and opened the windows. Some riders threw a fierce look at him because they were offended by his stench, but the person putting out that rancid smell seemed as if nothing happened.

If the smells were mixed, the space on the bus would be just hell. Why do the riders have to face such hell even though they have paid to ride? Because they don’t have to worry about parking or pay car insurance.

Now you know, you students who come to the school using a car may understand the feelings of us bus riding students. How lucky you are! Would you be willing to give a ride to your classmates or friends who don’t have a car?

I give applause to those of you who are actually coming to school, but I particularly give applause to those of you, like me, who take the bus everyday to come here. I am dreaming of having my own car to go to school as soon as possible. And I will always miss Tokyo’s cool transportation, especially this season!