Some time last week, i was running late and decided to share the conductor’s seat in a matatu, even though it is against the law. (I wonder if it is really, cause i constantly seeing it being done these days).
The only thing that i didn’t figure when i was making this decision, was that the conductor was twice my size!
I don’t know about your experience, but in my many years of travelling by matatu, touts are usually quite slim… But this guy, sheesh! His ass size was twice mine, and the seat was not exactly designed to have both our bottoms (and mine has increased in size quite a bit recently, blush) on it. The guy had no qualms squishing me on the seat until i literally had only a quarter of my bum on the seat, and the rest of me in the space between his seat and the next. He had no qualms either expecting me to pay the full fare (which in fact, i did!).
I must tell you, it was quite the ride… very uncomfortable indeed, and i only felt worse when getting to my stop, there was another matatu (same route) that had not been filled, and if i had had just a little patience, I would have had a more comfortable ride at the same price .
Well, at least there was a lesson learnt from this experience. Actually, more than one!
- Never share a seat with a tout, no matter what his butt size!
- Leave the house early, not only to get to work on time but to also have a choice on which matatu to take
- Patience pays
