This morning, I saw these two schoolkids (a girl and a boy) waiting for the same bus as me. When you’re on a bus, you see lots of different people, and you hear things. This is what I saw and heard, not today, but last week.
At the same bus stop last week, the driver was waiting to start the journey. I was sitting in my usual seat, and in front of me, there were two young kids (not the two in the picture above). There was no adult with them. They looked like brother and sister. The girl was younger.
I know this driver because I’ve been on his bus before. He’s a middle-aged Korean man, and he’s always friendly and polite. On this day last week, he got out of his seat and walked towards us. I thought he was just stretching his legs while waiting, but he wasn’t.
He stopped in front of the kids, and asked the boy how old he was. He said he was 9. The driver said the boy didn’t tag on, and that he usually didn’t tag on. The driver said that only kids under five can travel free if they’re with an adult.
The driver didn’t shout. He wasn’t angry, but he was firm. He just told the boy the rules. Then the driver returned to his seat and started the journey.
The boy started looking for something in his backpack. He took out a HOP card, stretched for the reader and tagged on! So he did have a card, but didn’t tag on at the start. Why not? Did he forget or was he cheating? Who knows?
When we came to the stop at their school, the girl tagged off, and the boy was half-off the bus. But then he remembered and searched again in his backpack for his HOP card. So maybe he really did forget.
The next day, I was on the same bus again at the same time. I saw someone standing at the front of the bus near the driver beside the card reader. It was the same boy, searching in the same bag for the same HOP card! So maybe he is just forgetful.
Or maybe not. This morning, on the same bus at the same time, there was a different driver. The boy got on after me, but didn’t tag on. The driver didn’t say anything, and the boy just sat down. At the school, he hopped off, but he didn’t tag off. So maybe he isn’t just forgetful. Or maybe I should just mind my own business.
LANGUAGE NOTES
The words fair and fare sound the same. They have the same pronunciation. Fair is an adjective, and fare is a noun.
Now Hear this. 