Priority reader

It's so unusual to see a young traveller absorbed in a book not a phone that I had to ask him what it was. (I was surprised when he turned out to be French.)
The book was Uranus by Marcel Aymé , a post-war novel that was somewhat controversial at the time.
He was reading it in French but had bought an English translation to help him learn the language.
He had parked himself in a 'priority' seat - perhaps unfamiliar with the term. It didn't really matter, the bus was half empty as usual.

One for Readers' World