Carpe Diem

I ride the bus everyday. I like feeling the connection to humanity, it reminds me that there are people in the world with different perspectives than mine. I am a great believer in the theory that birds of a feather flock together, so those who surround me share mostly the same opinions. Opinions like; that nobody should look forward to owning a condo someday. One of the those tacky, pink, stucko embarasements was recently built not far from Uvic. I was on the bus one day when I heard someone say "Wouldn't it be great to live there?!" Shocking. But, in a good way. We can't have everyone on this planet being clones of each other. Even the condo lovers have a place.
A guy got on the bus the other day. His expensive jeans and pretensiously flipped colar told me that he was only taking the bus because his Mistubishi Lancer was still in the shop. Either that, or he was still a student, broke and dreaming of the day he would own something with four wheels to soothe his ego. He was plugged in, like most people are these days. Little wires coming down from their ears into a pocket where, no doubt, an ipod saves them the torture of having to communicate with others on public transit. He walked on, took off his backpack (black, expensive looking) and stood. An older gentleman noticed an empty seat and tapped lightly on Pepe's jacket to inform him where he could be sitting. Buddy looked at the older gentleman, shuffled an apology and moved further toward the back of the bus.
It became awkward. The older gentleman was showing kindness, and Price Tags assumed he was only getting in the older gentleman's way. I noticed how akward it was only because I realised that I was smiling the smile one does when trying to salve a wounded understanding. Richard was now standing right beside me. I could easily see that he was listening to some R&B singer I didn't know. I could also see that it would take very little effort for me to reach up and press the 'next song' button.
I didn't do it. But the scene flashed in my mind and I smiled the smile one does when they are being ridiculous. I wonder if this event will flash through my mind sometime when I'm older, and regretting the things I left undone.