Give the bus drivers a break!

Riding a bus in Seoul can be a terrifying experiences. Most bus drivers here drive like taxi drivers. They speed up to get to the next bus stop, they cut off cars, make jack rabbit stops and starts and creep up on cars that are in the way and then honk their horns. If you don't have a seat on a bus within 3 seconds of stepping on you had better be holding onto something or you will fall over. It's a ride. A wild ride. In fact, this experience is so universal that a very clever man made a cute comic about it here.

Perhaps we've mentioned before though that Koreans work long hours so I imagine it's the same for the bus drivers. I'm guessing that they work longer than 8 hour shifts, that they get few breaks and that the job quickly gets frustrating. This is my assumption. I'll have to ask around. One of the more novel things about riding a bus is Seoul is the driver smoke break. Occasionally, as with any big city, there will be a traffic light where you will have to wait 5 minutes for it to cycle around. When this happens, it's not uncommon to see the bus driver turn the bus off and step outside for a cigarrette while they wait for the light to come around to them. If you look at the picture below, you will see the green bus. If you look closely, you'll notice the bus driver standing in front of the bus smoking a cigarette.He isn't parked there. He's in a traffic lane. You might also notice that traffic is still flowing. Also, the bus is full of people. I'm not certain why I find the so hilarious. It makes sense, driving a bus is stressful, and I'd rather my driver take a five minute smoke break than using the bus to run down pedestrians. But for me, it's funny to see.