Story 18: Bus a move

When I was a studying at Tel Aviv University (TAU) in 1988, I remember being on bus with some other overseas students.  The driver was playing Israeli music extremely loud. It was making us all crazy.

People were shouting, “lower the music”, “Sheqet” (Quiet in Hebrew), but to no avail, because the driver couldn’t hear us. He was surrounded by a thick plastic wall designed to protect him from terrorists, or just irate passengers. Something we could probably use in New York.

Finally, I had a brainstorm. I tore out a blank sheet of paper from a book I was reading and wrote “Please lower music.” He understood immediately, lowered the song, and then everybody applauded. I felt great for coming up with a solution for a problem no one knew how to solve, and then being recognized for my creativity.

Life Lesson 18: When you are faced with a problem be creative, and remember that even on buses in Israel sometimes the pen is mightier than the sword.