Bizarre Bus Behaviour
Regular Eat Rio readers will know that I have a bit of a bus obsession. It’s a cheap way to get around town and entertainment (in the form of people watching) is never far away. I’ve collected my favourite bus adventures/stories in a single post from way back. Well this morning I witnessed some more extraordinary behaviour – I was a little late on my way to work, so the bus was fairly empty, but there was a girl sitting on her own in the seat in front of me.
I got myself settled down and comfortable and then glanced up to witness the most extraordinary behaviour.
She was hair twirling, though I think perhaps there should be some other name for it when you attain this level of skill and complexity.
She had separated a long, thin section of hair from the back of her head and was winding it around her index finger. Her hand twisted and turned this way and that, with the same surety of movement you see from a magician shuffling cards. Suddenly she tucked her thumb underneath the twisted strands of hair and wound it round and round before tucking it through the loops she still held on her finger to form a knot! She then somehow pulled the finger through the loop she had made with her thumb and the whole thing unravelled! She had all kinds of tricks involving twisting the hair, forming knots, loops, spirals and coils. And she did all of this with lightning fast movements and all the time looking out of the window. And in my 25 minute bus journey she didn’t stop once.
I know this may sound a little strange, but I was mesmerised! I promise I was in no way aroused by all this (I’m guessing there is a creepy corner of the internet where people get off on this kind of thing) – it was just such weird and seemingly compulsive behaviour.
So listen, would you think badly of me if I tell you that I got my phone out and videoed it? It’s just that a description on its own is kind of lame isn’t it? Back when I was travelling, someone introduced me to the phrase “pics or it didn’t happen” and I believe that this is fast evolving into “video or it didn’t happen”. So here it is, this girl’s weird skill (you might want to lower the volume a bit as the traffic roar is kind of intense).
Ha! Lol, Tom, you are the ultimate Rio voyeur!!
This is very interesting indeed! ;)
Abracos
Ray
Heh heh, Ray – I do it for you guys, y’know? My journalistic (ha!) sense of duty to report the newsworthy events of Rio.
I’m expecting a call from from a Globo headhunter any day now… :D
That is nuts! Wonder if she, like, learned this (exchanging twirling tips with friends?) or if the skill just developed naturally. I’m so glad you filmed it :-D
I was half expecting someone to reply along the lines of “OMG you are so old! All the kids are doing Twirl™ nowadays…”
There’s actually even more if you’re interested:
sex pest
Hector, I didn’t touch her – it was all legal (er, I think!)
Tom – I am not sure what to say to you!! You are hilarious that you actually filmed this!!!!
Still, better than the guy I tried NOT to watch tonight on the tube all the way from Bank to Highgate who picked his nose pretty much non stop! ha! bjs R
Hee hee, bad aren’t I? I have to say that after I published this, a fair amount of self-doubt crept in and I started questioning what the response would be. I half expected more responses like Hector’s (it’s OK though, he’s guy who set out from London with me on our ‘4 month’ trip to South America, so I expect abuse from him!)
p.s. the joys of the Northern Line eh? Wish I could say I miss it… ;)
OK Tom, this video made me horny……
….just kidding, but that’s really funny how you filmed it. Let’s try and make it viral! Tomorrow it will probably have 1,000,000 views haha.
Anyway, free entertainment is always good!
Abracos,
Alex
Ha ha! Admit it Alex, you love this kind of stuff! ;)
I did feel a bit like a dirty old man secretly filming her. But then I thought “people have got to see this!”
Yes, let’s make it go viral and then I want it to become a genuine craze that all the long-haired kids do. They will compete to do special tricks, constantly innovating and inventing ever more complex and demanding knots and unravelling techniques. You will all be able to say that you were here when it started :)
Hahahhhahahah! Sounds like a plan!
Hmmm, inbox disappointingly free of journalists and web gurus wanting to know more this morning… :(
QUE PENA!
Athlete : Bus Chick
Musical Score: “Transito Pesado” by João d’Jaula (John Cage)
1. Rhythm – 9.2
2. Balance – 9.1
3. Execution – 9.7
Final Score – 9.2
It’s hard to believe that the first ever professional hair twirler discovered also turns out to be the best ever, but I just can’t imagine anyone bettering this.
[Jeez, I hadn’t heard of him before, but that John Cage has a strange idea of what music is doesn’t he?]
“It’s hard to believe that the first ever professional hair twirler discovered also turns out to be the best ever, but I just can’t imagine anyone bettering this.”
What you didn’t notice was that she was on the bus returning from a lesson, with him.
You have much to learn Tomlemeson.
This gesture is very common among Brazilian women, denotes only boredom, may also be that she is thinking something about your life.
Hi there MH, thanks for dropping by :)
I guess you know all about boredom…