At least two or three times, I have been on a really, really crowded bus on my way to or from work. People are sitting and standing, and getting through the passageway is a nightmare. A few times, people enter the bus from the rear doors. There are so many people squished together that honestly, if I were the driver, I don't think I'd notice these patrons entering from the back.
But it doesn't matter, because when they get on, they ask the person standing next to them to start passing their bus change to the driver, and the pesos or monedas get passed from person to person to person until they reach the driver, who sometimes passes any change due back through the passenger chain. No one pockets any money, and no one refuses to participate in this lengthy (literally) exchange.
It is important for me to note this because I've been told nothing but negative things about the buses here in Mexico (by USers and Mexicans!). I've heard "you'll get robbed," or "someone will steal your phone," or even one student said, "I didn't expect to see you here" when I sat with her on the bus to school. But then this happens, this chain of trust and altruism (in my view, and maybe I'm being dramatic, but it's not commonplace in the US), and I think, "the people that ride the buses here in Mexico are far from bad. They're better than most people in cars, I bet."
I've said that about people in the US, too; the stigma around public transportation in certain areas is strong, but it's almost always unfair and untrue.
La gente mexicana muy linda never fail to amaze and inspire me.
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