Epic Fail

We are?

I'm not.

Yesterday, the wait for the consistently inconsistent bus took longer than usual. Which is saying something. Usually, I spend about 40% of an outing simply waiting for buses, at stations that either have open drains with cockroaches scurrying about, or stations with nonexistent seats.

But now, it's worse. Why? Because of the stupid government and their stupid policies that just burden the lives of the people, especially penniless students like me. They thought that by raising the bus fare, we "rakyat" simply shell out extra dough for public transportation (it's only a 100% increase, right?) and the government can laugh maniacally as they swim in pools of our RM1 notes. End of story. Not.

Because bus drivers need to distribute tickets every time someone clambers onto a bus, it makes the bus's journey slow down to a handicapped snail's pace. The fact that the ancient ticketing machine take its own sweet time to even produce one measly ticket doesn't help, either. Because of the lengthier duration the bus takes to arrive at each stop, more and more people pile up like helpless sausages at each stop.

And you know what that means, right?

Yep, us unlucky sods who unwittingly wait for hours at the final few bus stops of UIA will get a glimpse of that one-of-a-kind, only-happens-in-T231-buses smile that bus drivers flash us every time their bus clunkers past us without stopping. This unique smile is a mix of I'm sorry, but what can I do? with a subtle dash of so long suckers! and an underlying I hate my job so much and this is one of the few joys I get in it.

You do not want to see that smile even once in your lifetime, nor feel the wind whistling past your ears as the bus rumbles past you, taking along with it your desperate hopes and desires of leaving the campus without the hour-long wait.

But after seeing that smile three times, there's nothing one can do but to resort to taxis.

Ah, taxis.

Last week, a 10 minute ride from campus to Terminal Putra by taxi cost RM5. Kira ok lagi ah. Bila dah split tu sorang 2.50. But now it costs a freaking RM7!!! My GOD! I could buy a buka puasa meal of nasi ayam percik with frothing fresh orange juice at Mokku for a cheaper price than that! (Try it there one day. It's worth starving all day just to get a taste of the food there.)

So you see, how can I be proud to be a Malaysian when just commuting around the city makes my life increasingly difficult?