A phenomenon of pushing, shoving and
cutting in
line that may cause the inexperienced to feel that this may be the last bus, to anywhere, ever and that societal norms have ceased to be relevant. A feeling of dizziness, frustration and the beginnings of a rare psychological disorder may occur. This phenomenon happens regardless of how many people are in
line or how empty the bus is. If one listens closley, the silent screams of non-Israelis can be heard as they are herded to the side of the line.
Alex, going for his first shabbat in Jerusalem, got to the
Beer Sheva bus station early Friday morning and was
happy to see that the platform for his bus was mostly empty. Relieved that his friends had been wrong about the Bus lines in
Israel, Alex got in
line and waited. When the bus arrived, Alex noticed an elderly woman coming towards him from the side. Alex thought to himself, "I'
ll offer to let her go on first." Without notice, she simply walked in front of him and then signalled to the rest of her family, laying in wait, to join her. Suddenly Alex felt himself being pushed to the floor as little
kids kicked him out of the way to run onto the completely empty bus. As he tried to get up, the
boots of soldiers, just let off base for the weekend trampled him and forced their way onto the bus. "Ugh!
Fine I'll just wait for the next bus" thought Alex to himself. Afterall, it was only 8 in the morning and he had plenty of time to get to to Jerusalem. Alex never made it to Jerusalem for Shabbat.
