Different rules . On the bus today I was sitting immersed in the new Indie broadsheet and someone poked my shoulder. Fondled it, almost. I thought which friend it could be, getting on the morning route to work, but it wasn't; it was a young man wanting to sit down. Young black men rarely touch middleaged white women on buses, and I wondered if he was deaf, or irritated, or just used to touching instead of talking. If the bus was still in Hackney someone touched like that might have started a fight. But it was Islington by then - different rules. Posted by: jozey | October 2, 2003 12:37 PM

Hair trouble . At first I didn't realise my head was stuck. It'd never happened to me before on a bus, though I have had my hair caught in car doors before. I was sitting along the seat with my back to the window chatting to a friend. It was sunny and a breeze was swirling around the upper deck. I had to ask for help to rescue my hair from the window handle. Posted by Kat | July 30, 2003 | Oxford Street to Victoria