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It is the minor victories…..
 
 
I watched her get on the bus
with her kid, a big dumb child of 30
with the mental age of a 4 year old.
She sent him down the bus
while she waited at the front.
She recognised the driver, obviously
this was her regular route.
"I told you," she said. "I told you
it was 64c not 65. I told you."
"Yeah, yeah," the driver mumbled
as he signalled to pull out,
obviously not interested.
"I rang your office," she continued,
"I spoke to your supervisor. I wrote 
a letter. You could lose your job."
"Christ yeah," the driver sighed
as he moved into traffic.
He didn't care about her or her letter,
hell, he didn't even care for the job.
"I knew I was right. You can't rip me off,"
she said looking down the bus at her son.
He sat there, blank.
I realised.
It was a victory.
She had made the call, written the letter
and the response had been a triumph.
A minor battle won, a small defeat of 
an enemy that meant so much.
The driver, front line man, surrendered,
waved a white flag only she could see.
She sat next to the boy.
It is the small gains that keep them alive.
With so many wars raging into the distance,
far from her tired and slow existence,
she achieved what we all have to achieve.
She made the small step towards feeling good
that often eludes us all.
We sat there, waiting, moving forward.
We did not feel good, we had won nothing
and we hadn't a clue which battle
would face us next.

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