After years of frequent use of the public transportation in São Paulo, and in a city like this you do spend a lot of time in a bus, I noticed a pattern in how people behave. And this pattern is restricted to buses and its user’s majority; I want to make this clear. I`d like to describe my theory here, and you are welcome to give your opinion about whether I`m right or wrong. Let`s start by the bus stop.
The bus stop is a great spot for reflection. You are just standing there so you are free to think. A million thoughts go through our minds while we are waiting for the bus. And the most interesting thing is that most of these thoughts are related to the bus we are waiting for. If the bus is taking too long, you wonder if you are on the right stop, maybe they`ve changed the route and you don`t know. Then you remember this bus always takes a while, so maybe you should take that other bus and get down on the main avenue where you`ve got more options. But maybe if you take that bus, the one you need will come right after and you will lose the chance to get it. But you are so late already, what if it takes too long? Finally, the bus you need arrives first, and you are taken by a warm feeling in your chest. It`s a momentary feeling of accomplishment, you feel your day started just great and can only get better. You step in the bus and smile to the driver. You are still thrilling when you touch your bus card and pass the ratchet, but then a new stage starts.
It`s time to pick your seat. On this part your subconscious starts working and it follows a sequence of rules so you can pick your seat quickly. You don`t want to take too long or people might notice and be offended because you didn`t pick the available seat next to them. You just take a quick look around and make it look like you chose it randomly, but you are actually minutely picking the most appropriate spot for you. The first rule to follow is: you always take the seat as far as you can from other people in the bus. If you look inside a bus half full of people, you will probably notice the pattern between the empty seats: they are spread. This rule, as any other, has exceptions. One of them is for the hot sunny days. In this case, people tend to avoid the sunny side of the bus and look for a seat on the shade. Eventually, though, the bus will make a turn and all will be back to normal.
The second rule is different for men and women. This stage is based on the people already seated, when there aren`t many available seats. If you are a man, you are going to first look for a seat next to a woman. If this option is not available, you look for a seat next to a man. Last of all, and you only take this one when there is no other option left, you sit next to a good-looking woman. Many men will probably disagree with me on this one. But this is merely their subconscious part of the brain working. Good-looking women are a threat for men, knowing that, they feel very insecure next to them. First of all these women are too confident. For them, in a public transportation, any man is a pervert until the contrary is proven. If, when the bus shakes, he accidently touches the pretty girl next to him, he will be attacked by her censorship look. She might even pretend to be next to her stop, stand up and move to another part of the bus. That kind of situation messes with a man`s confidence, so he tries to avoid it by avoiding the seat next to that girl he considers attractive.
As I mentioned before, the second rule is different for women. They also look for a seat next to another woman first. Then, if they can`t avoid seating next to a man, they look for the most well-dressed and good-looking one to seat next to. It`s not because they are interested in meeting this guy, and it`s not because he`s attractive. In her subconscious mind, that guy is less likely to be a pervert. It`s a very simple rule, I noticed it applies to most women. If we observe a considerably full bus, we will see that, in most cases, the empty seats are next to good-looking women and bad-looking men. I was as well astonished when I realized how the second rule works, but after much observation I can assure you it`s real.
The third rule can also be used as a trick by the ones who like to travel alone. If a person looks right at you when you get in the bus, and you don`t know this person, you won`t seat next to him/her. This person might be possibly staring, and that means it`s a freak or a pervert. You don`t want to seat next to any of those. Besides, if there is visual contact, it is more likely to be interaction between these people. People want to be left alone in the bus, they don`t want to be talking to a stranger the whole trip. Of course there are exceptions, some people are lonely and some people are just very social. But it works for most of the cases. So if you have an empty seat next to you and you want it to remain like this, all you have to do is stare. Look in the eyes of every individual who passes the ratchet. If you are a woman, thought, you need to be very careful not to stare too long. Some men might see it as a sign you are interested and not only seat next to you but actually start a conversation.
