Then I’ll begin… with a tail of social observation that proves the bus is more than a means of getting from A to B. It’s also a vehicle for social observation.
Chances are when you sit in the staff canteen, at church or on the bus, you’ll pick the same seat every time. We feel comfortable with our familiar territory. But, for those who travel by bus, more appears to be at play.
Yesterday’s Daily Telegraph devoted a substantial part of page 7 to psychological research that purports to determine (or indicate) your personality based on where you sit on the bus. This obviously applies more to passengers than drivers! The photograph below explains the relationship between location and personality. Click the picture to enlarge.
Are these maxims correct for you? Does where *you* sit reveal something of your personality?
But, there are questions. Where might ‘forward thinkers’ sit on a single deck? Are bus enthusiasts ‘risk takers’ or ‘forward thinkers’? Did those who in winter used to sit at the lower rear of a Wilts & Dorset Bristol VR take risks or just pragmatically wish to stay warm? Do ‘sociable-meeters-and-greeters’ extend to that young-ish lady stood talking to the male driver?
Have the researchers ever observed a double deck bus on a Saturday, with youngsters upstairs scaring the life out of everyone else crowded downstairs?
As for personality, a friend who steadfastly used to sit at the rear was once accosted as he passed a Scientology centre. Would he like to come in for a free personality test, they asked. No, he said, it was OK, as he explained that he didn’t have a personality, to which the reply came, ‘that’s OK, come in and we’ll give you one’. Or so the apocryphal story goes...
Seven personality types as defined by where you sit:
- Upper deck front seats: forward thinkers
- Upper deck middle: independent-minded
- Upper deck rear: rebellious types
- Lower deck front: sociable meeters-and-greeters
- Lower deck middle: strong communicators
- Lower deck rear: risk-takers
- Anywhere (no preference): chameleons who fit in anywhere
4 comments:
What about single deckers?
I always sit at the front of double deckers but in the middle of single deckers, just where you gain a bit of height. I may be a strong communicator but am definitely not forward thinking.
And what about less mobile people who sit at the front?
I presume this relates to rear engined (or, at least, front-entrance) double deckers. I had a school friend who used to prefer to sit at the lower deck rear on Atlanteans on the grounds that it was closest to the emergency door! Risk taker? Quite the opposite, I would have thought!
Then there was a colleague who reputedly always sat on one particular side of the bus. If you were already sat on that side, then he would come and sit next to you, but not if you were sat on the other side. So the story goes, anyway. We could only speculate on the reason - possibly he had been on a bus that was involved in an accident affecting the opposite side to where he liked to sit.
Then, what about enthusiasts who like to sit near the engine to hear it to best effect (assuming the bus has an engine worth hearing!)? Risk takers, according to this theory. Hmmm, not sure about that. I'd accept that some are not the strongest communicators, and some of it's nostalgic, so perhaps not forward thinkers, but some are definitely independent-minded!
This is easy. Upstairs, tourists at the front, blacks at the back; downstairs, nobody at the front because there aren't any seats, crumblies in the middle. And never the twain shall meet!
When I was younger, my paremts used to warn me to sit on the near side of the bus or coach as there was less of a risk of an accident. Not sure this actually holds true as its presumably as likely to be hit broadside by a car emerging from the left, or more likely.
Post a Comment