Yet another OII happened to me today. I was on a busy bus, standing with my book bag on my shoulder and cellphone in other hand, while trying to cling to a bus pole so I wouldn't fall down. (That has happened to me on buses before)When I reached the busy Bar Ilan intersection, a woman with a baby in a stroller got on. Someone got up for her (which is nothing new, but still very nice), and she sat down as the bus continued on its way.
I then felt a tap on my shoulder. Someone behind me was waving a bus ticket in my face. "L'vir et zeh l'nahag. Paam Achat." I didn't understand the rapidly mumbled Hebrew, so I asked him to repeat himself. "Pass this up to the bus driver. One time (punch)." I looked in front of me- but there was no way I was getting through the mass of humanity in front of me just to get a punch for this man. I looked back, and he pointed to the woman with the baby. "Rak L'vir et zeh." "Just pass it on." And so I did.
Her nearly full bus card was passed from passenger to passenger, duly punched by the driver, and handed safely back to the mom.
I guess I can't imagine this happening anywhere else but Israel.
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2 days ago
4 comments:
Very typical of Israel. Is "l'vir" actually ment to be "lehaavir"?
Anon- Yes it is. I can't seem to transliterate Hebrew very well, especially with the Israeli accent flavoring the words. I mean, how would you transliterate the word for nineteen in Hebrew?!
I remember the first time I saw this when I was on a bus while in seminary, I think it was the #10 mehadrin bus where the women get on in the back. A lady passed up her card, asked for one punch, it went through many hands and was passed right back to her. I was amazed!
You are right! Only in Israel do you see this!
Devorah- I know- way cool.
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