Wet Weather Companions

You don't see many people reading newspapers on the bus any more.
It used to be the pass time of just about anyone travelling into the city but now its eReaders, iPods, iPhones, iPads....
We are listening and looking and watching and talking. Some even play games while travelling.  No longer the Times crossword or the Daily Mail wordsearch but we're using our phones or gadets to play Sudoku, or Wordtower or a Platform game or even an intricate strategy game!

I look around me and there are those who are in engrossed in their chosen method of entertainment to pass the time travelling or the ones who gaze out the windows with unseeing eyes; lost in their daydreams.
Some doze quietly, others, like me today, have a look around them and take note of their fellow passengers.
This is best done from a side seat as one has a better view of both ends of the bus and can watch people as they board or alight from the bus.

This morning it was raining and for some reason I really don't understand, the bus is so much busier!  So too is the general traffic.
Where do all these extra people and cars come from?  I realise that a small number of them are cyclists - but the rest?  Surely they don't usually walk all the way into the city?
Who are these commuters who suddenly appear when it rains and then disappear again when the sun shines?

Who is this lady coming on now with her hair piled precariously high on her head.  Very overweight in a red coat that is too tight, too short, with red tights and a pink skirt? :o/
Or this pretty girl with the three different coloured, nail polish and the smart black suit and bright white trainers, her wet umbrella dripping onto the feet of the man standing next to her?
Or the boy chatting on the phone as he inserts his ticket, drops it, knocks someone aside in bending to pick it up, blocks the aisle and generally causes momentary chaos......?
Just a few of the strange faces and characters that have suddenly joined us on our journey today.

I don't recall ever seeing them before.  I don't travel on the same bus everyday so I stand a good chance of seeing most people that are regulars on this route. 

It's getting very crowded.  People are standing, holding on to the straps or leaning against the rails.
A man sits next to me; squashed against me in the middle confines of a three person seat. He sits with his legs far apart, encroaching on my personal space and I simmer quietly until I can stand it no longer and catch him a dig with my oversized handbag which contains my netbook today as well as my iPad, so weighs quite heavily and full of uncomfortable corners which dig in his leg beautifully.
He gets the message and presses his knees closer together with a quick wriggle and an indignant side glance.

Comfy again, I get out my iPad to read the Newspaper.