Tourette Syndrome

I became aware of other passengers on the bus when I heard his loud declaration... "Its alright,I've got Tourette Syndrome." "It's alright,I'm on medication..." Just as I lifted my head out of my book he asked of the passengers, "Has anyone heard of Tourette Syndrome?"

In the absence of any kind of reply, I returned to my reading. Only his continuous banter kept taking my attention.

What does that say about my novel,I wonder?

He'd sat at the front of the bus which surprised me a bit. He leaned forward in the seat with his legs stretched out which revealed his worn and dirty white trainers. He periodically scanned the passengers behind so I could readily see from out of his knitted hat, his ginger beard and 'tash which almost covered his face. I tried once again to read on, making a conscious effort to shut out the character that had become a point of curiosity.

"Have a nice day" he'd call out in a friendly manner, as each passenger attempted to get off the bus.

He seemed unsettled, giving the odd kick to the side of the bus whilst randomly blurting out "Tits", "Wank" followed by repeated apologies, "Sorry about that, sorry about that".

From the corner of my eye, I could see the occasional rude gesture. By this time my reading made no sense at all and even though I tried to get to grips with the storyline I found myself returning to passages I'd already read, as none of it seemed to sink in.

Not a good journey for reading, but the book came in handy to prevent any likely dialogue in his efforts to engage with the passengers that were just aimlessly surviving their daily and laborious journey to work.

"Do you originate from Japan?", I heard him question a passenger who'd just boarded the bus and taken a seat behind him. "Not being funny", he said in the next breath, to justify the nature of his enquiry. "Malaysia" came a soft reply. "Did you live there?" came another question. "I've only been to Spain", he continued. "I'd love to go to Japan,to see their video games." In the silence that followed, he addressed the full bus of passengers, "I'm in a bit of a chatty mood".

"Not too far now." "Nice chatting to you." he said as the guy from Malaysia made his exit. "I should have guessed he was from Malaysia." "I like x-box games." "Japan is the best place for that." "I'm well into it." "They're crazy about RPG games." "I'm in a bit of a chatty mood", he concluded.

He mumbled as he turned to face the front of the bus again, shoulder shrugging alongside involuntary grunting sounds and a blurt of "Tits", "Wank" with yet more gestures...

"I owed £60." "I was going to pay back 25, but it's down to 10 now!" He's going to beat me up". He's stronger than me." "I don't believe in fighting." "Never had a fight in my life." "I'm not strong." "My legs are strong, as I played football when I was young". "I'm in a bit of a chatty mood", he declared again as he gave another kick to the side of the bus.

He greeted a couple who had just taken their seats, who said, "Hello", back. "You say hello to an older person and they say hello back but someone age 18 or 19 won;t say hello back." he shared with the new passengers. "Tits". "Wank". "Its alright, I've got Tourette Syndrome." "It's alright,I'm on medication..."

He rose from his seat and bid farewell to all of us and got off the bus.

Part of me considered the chap very brave to sit at the front, where he would be a target of observation or was he happy receiving attention? Whilst I actively tried to look away and not let my curiosity get the better of me, as this was my first direct exposure of Tourette Syndrome, I questioned myself, that in today's climate of inclusion, were my actions right?

I closed my book and gave up on my daily opportunity to read.

How would you have responded?