TRIP - Second version

An awful and unforgettable trip at everyday of my life

Characters:

Me

An old woman

A woman with a baby

A young woman

I still remember the fist time I heard about it, when they said on TV “This transportation is going to improve your lifestyle and bla bla bla” or almost funny when they also stated “now our city is going to be more civic...the MIO is yours, Cali a new beat.” Thus, I think back about those bureaucratic promises, I say to myself “I knew it.” Therefore, since my personal viewpoint, I´m going to tell you one of my common journeys by using the MIO in order to set out that traveling by this bus is actually an awful and unforgettable experience to me at everyday of my life.

I remember I was getting out of my workplace so I just wanted to arrive home. I walked around the street at about twenty minutes, and then I arrived at MIO station which was full of people who tried to buy a ticket to step in this transportation. I had to wait for almost fifteen minutes to buy my ticket. While I waited I thought: “all this life time only to buy a ticket, that´s an insult for the citizens.”

I walked inside the station trying to prepare myself for the next wait. As always, it was actually full of people over there. I would like to escape from that place but I didn’t have any other option, as at everyday of my life as a bus user.

At the station, people gave pushes one another to be the first at stepping in the bus. They looked kind of aggressive. I guess they were mad at this means of transport as I was.

After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the bus arrived so, the struggle started. Many people got into the bus while they almost fought each other to get one of its gray, plastic chairs. Between the crowd, an old woman exclaimed: “…but you look like animals!”

I remember I couldn’t get any available place, and therefore I had to be stood up all that long way home.

I would say that traveling by MIO could be classified like an “eternity”, I mean: while you buy the ticket, then you should wait for the bus in the first station, later the change to actually arrive home or work, ah! well. The thing is that´s a lot of time consumed just because! But just because of an inefficient means of transport. We are almost forced by our local government to step in this transportation. Those situations have made me realize that our local government doesn´t care about what´s going on with its citizens since its only purpose is to get citizens´ money without offering them an actual benefit as they state in MIO´s advertising.

Back to my journey, I felt totally crushed and battered, and the bus hadn’t even left the station. Later, the trip started while the MIO moved to and fro like a boat in a turbulent pond. Inside the bus, people were extremely quiet. Suddenly, a woman with a baby got into the MIO in one of the stations. As she stepped in it, she tried to make her way between the stressful crowds. However, it was kind of impossible since the bus was full. I guess she felt as crushed as me since she shouted at some passengers: “you´re gonna injure my baby by pushing me like this.” Fortunately, another young woman gave her away her place and told her: “please, sit down here, otherwise they´re gonna crush your baby.”

After hundreds of pushed and crushed, I finally arrived at the most longed station to me, my neighborhood´s, and I got off this slow, big and blue bus.

I couldn’t deny the fact that some people have good experiences by travelling into MIO. Maybe, all my experiences are due to my lifestyle since I´m a hard working person so I should get into any transportation very early in the morning or at about five or six pm in the evening. That´s what is called in Colombia “hora pico.” At this time the transportation tends to be complicated. Thus, if someone has a different appreciation about this means of transport, below this text is the right place to express it. By the way, I swear not to be a MIO user all my life!