Indeterminacy 175

A crowded bus on the point of leaving Manchester for
Stockport was found by its conductress to have one
too many standees. She therefore asked, “Who was the
last person to get on the bus?” No one said a word.
Declaring that the bus would not leave until the
extra passenger was put off, she went and fetched
the driver, who also asked, “All right, who was the
last person to get on the bus?” Again there was a
public silence. So the two went to find an
inspector. He asked, “Who was the last person to get
on the bus?” No one spoke. He then announced that
he would fetch a policeman. While the conductress,
driver, and inspector were away looking for a
policeman, a little man came up to the bus stop and
asked, “Is this the bus to Stockport?” Hearing that
it was, he got on. A few minutes later the three
returned accompanied by a policeman. He asked, “What
seems to be the trouble? Who was the last person to
get on the bus?” The little man said, “I was.” The
policeman said, “All right, get off.” All the people
on the bus burst into laughter. The conductress,
thinking they were laughing at her, burst into tears
and said she refused to make the trip to Stockport.
The inspector then arranged for another conductress
to take over. She, seeing the little man standing
at the bus stop, said, “What are you doing there?”
He said, “I’m waiting to go to Stockport.” She said,
“Well, this is the bus to Stockport. Are you getting
on or not?”

- John Cage