The Wayward Bus

by John Steinbeck

didn’t even consider him a foreigner. “I don’t either,” said Juan. “Well, there’s one other way to stay out of trouble with the passengers.” “What’s that?” “Let them decide. This is a democracy, isn’t it?” “They’ll just get to fighting.” “Well, what’s wrong with that if they fight each other?” said Juan. “You’ve got something there,” Breed said. “But I’ll tell you one thing. Whatever side everybody else is on, Van Brunt is gonna be on the other side. There’s a fellow wouldn’t vote for the second coming of Christ if it was a popular measure.” “He’s all right,” said Juan. “You just gotta know how to handle him. I had a horse once that was so ornery that if you reined left he’d turn right. I fooled him. I did everything opposite and he thought he was getting his own way. You could get Van Brunt to do almost anything by disagreeing with him.”