God tid - Enough time

Da jeg tok bussen til jobb i dag, stoppa sjaafoeren plutselig et sted hvor det ikke var holdeplass og heller ikke trafikkork. Ingen skjoente helt hvorfor han stoppa. Men ved siden av veien, paa fortauet (det var i byen) var det en offentlig drikkefontene. Der vaska han kaffekoppen sin, fylte vannkagga (femliters, tror jeg) og saa pilte han inn i bussen igjen og kjoerte videre.

Foerst tenkte jeg 'Det er ikke mulig!' Men saa tenkte jeg at bussjaafoerer er en egen rase, og at hvis dette hadde skjedd hjemme hadde jeg blitt sjarmert. Kanskje ikke i Oslo, men naar jeg er nordafoerr syns jeg det er helt greit om sjaafoeren slaar av en prat med noen han kjenner underveis, og jeg har opplevd at en diger rutebuss har snirklet seg opp (og rygget tilbake!) en grusvei som knapt var bred nok til bussen - bare for at ei gammel, skroepelig dame i Lofoten skulle faa skyss til doera. Saa kanskje serbiske sjaafoerer ikke er saa forskjellige fra de norske, naar alt kommer til alt?

When I took the bus to work today the driver suddenly stopped the bus in a place where there was no bus stop nor any other reason to halt. No one quite understood why. But on the pavement there was a public drinking fountain, and there the bus driver washed his coffee mug and filled his big plastic keg with water. Then he rushed back in to the bus and drove on.

At first I thought "It's not possible!" But then it dawned upon me that bus drivers are a species of their own, and if this had happened at home I'd probably be charmed. Maybe not in Oslo, but when I am up north I think it is perfectly OK for the bus driver to stop for a chat with someone he knows. I also once experienced the local bus driving half a mile up a gravel road that was barely broad enough for the bus to drive on, only so that an old frail lady should get lift all the way to her own doorstep. And then that bus backed down that same road. So perhaps the Serbian bus drivers are not too different from their Norwegian counterparts, all things considered?