Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:59:43 +0800 From: webmarten Subject:
Thirty Three Three people ride the number 33 bus every day at
the same time: a young and surprisingly tall local youth in a
college or high school uniform, a blond, Germanic looking
Caucasian in his thirties, always wearing a perfectly ironed
shirt, an expensive, sometimes pin-striped suit, jacket slung
over his arm on the hot days, carrying a full briefcase, always;
and ... yes, and Mr. Chou from the Changgeng Memorial Hospital
Dispensary. The basketball player is always on the bus when it
reaches Dunhua Minsheng Station, where both the Caucasian and
Mr. Chou get on: the old man first, the banker last, any of the
housewives and office clerks who also get on here, politely in
between. There is never a crowd at this station, and the thick
cover of the trees offers a pleasant shade, even when they have
to wait. There are of course days when they don't meet: Mondays
sometimes, when the German is not there, not back from the
weekend in Hong Kong, one