Perspective

I am sleeping lightly on the bus home, opening my eyes periodically to check where we are. A young woman with heavy eyebrows and a long ponytail sits across from me. She is accompanied by a young man with massive headphones. Think the size ear muffs you’d wear to Antarctica. That big.

She: …I just realized – I don’t know who I AM when I’m with him
He: Hmm
She: …anyway…it’s fine…we’re growing
He: Yeah

The man sitting to my right smells of work-site dust and stale cigarettes. He spends a few minutes telling the guy across the isle about the site where he’s foreman. He’s so desperate for workers, he’s got to keep junkies on the payroll.

She: Lookit her, talking to herself. That’s crazy.
He: Hmm
She: Is it crazy? I talk to myself all the time. Does it really mean you’re crazy? I don’t feel crazy.
He: There was this really crazy woman on the skytrain the other day
She: Yeah?
He: Yeah, she was, like, talking about university students and how we should go into the military…
She: That’s not crazy
He: …and me and my friend didn’t even know she was talking to us but then she started doing, like, military call signs into her hand alpha, bravo right? And she’s all, young people should join up and serve their countries..
She: It’s not really much of a stretch for university students to go to war..
He: I guess not. She was, like, feral
She: What is that, feral? Is it –
He: It means wild
She: I’ve only heard it used about children. I should look it up.

We pass the second to last major intersection before my stop and 80% of the bus disembarks, including the man next to me.

She: Let me ask you a question
He: OK
She: Is there a difference between perspective and perception?
He: …
She: I was thinking about this last night. There really isn’t much difference, right?
He: …
She: Because perspective is, like, where you’re standing when you see something, right? It’s like your viewpoint. But perception is the same thing. It’s like,how you see. And how you see and where you’re seeing it from, those are the same thing, right?
He: Yeah, it’s both about seeing…
She: Damn, I need a dictionary.

The bus inches down 12th Street. The sky is darkening and people are moving quickly along the sidewalk, hurrying home. I am thinking about the jar of Biryani sauce I am going to cook with rice and meat when I get home. I suddenly remember the apple pie in my fridge and smile broadly on the inside.

He: There’s that new store…man, I’m gonna waste a lot of money in there.
She: It’s not a waste if you end up with something you want
He: It is if you don’t have the money
She: No! If it’s something you want, it’s all right to spend the money
He: Well, I need a new TV
She: Why?
He: I want one of those flat screen –
She: You don’t NEED a new TV then, you WANT one, there’s a difference
He: …
She: You have to know the difference. There’s a difference. You NEED food and water and shelter. You WANT a new TV.
He: Yeah, I guess so. I want one.
She: And you shouldn’t just expect to get everything you want.

I get off the bus a stop early because they show no signs of leaving and while I am, at points, amused by the conversation, I am also starting to want to punch her in the nose.

I look up as I am leaving the bus and she is staring at her knees, making this sour face, her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth mean. I can tell she is just waiting for him to say something so she can shoot it down, or correct it, or argue.

He still has the headphones on. He looks happy.