morning commute

[ironymaiden]

guy on the bus on 15th this morning is panicking. he needs to get to 14th W and Howe. bus driver has no clue. consortium of bus riders check out his printed out trip plan, recognize his stop, pull for it, and give him instructions on which way he needs to go on foot from there. this spurs a discussion of how bus riders in Seattle know their routes inside out and are quite helpful. (also about the street grid, since we almost sent him on a wild goose chase into Magnolia.)

the stop before mine, the bus is about to pull away, and a man in the shelter lets out an auctioneer bellow - "someone's coming!" bus driver waits, long moments pass, and a young woman comes pelting down the sidewalk. the dude in the shelter must have seen her start running from blocks away.

i lost count of the people carrying or reading Harry Potter.

someone stuck a sign that says "Buffering..." on the Real building.

i love this town.

Comments

[craftyasparagus.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one that isn't reading or watching Harry Potter.

I love how bus people take care of each other. I've been saved more than once by someone asking the driver to wait, and have helped with routes, etc. too. Most busses have a community-feel to them, and it feels good to take care of people that way.

[joyful-storm.livejournal.com]

I am not on the Potter bandwagon either. ;)

[craftyasparagus.livejournal.com]

So, if the mob comes for our brains, do you have a shotgun? I don't, but I've got a getaway bicycle.

[refractednotion.livejournal.com]

I kind of miss being "Mr. Bus Driver." I did it for a while in college to pay the bills and it always felt good to be so immediately useful to people. I'd drive a Seattle bus in a heartbeat if it paid as well as software.

And just so you know, bus drivers cherish every "thank you." One of those will counteract at least five jackasses.

[ironymaiden]

i try to say thank you every time i get off, and make eye contact when i enter and exit.
i started being more mindful after a bus driver in chorus with me said she was driving one of my routes and i never said hello to her :( it's funny how you can build a bubble of personal space on public transit that doesn't let anything in.

[samildanach.livejournal.com]

One of my former co-workers drove the bus *as well as* writing software a decade ago, for the reasons you cite. When he ended up driving a Metro route through the MS campus, he claims he stuck an OS/2 bumper sticker on the fare box.

[amheriksha.livejournal.com]

I love Seattle for the same reasons. It's the fact that people are actually willing to be helpful that makes me all warm and fuzzy.

[ivy]

That is really awesome. I miss Seattle a lot.

[inevitableguy.livejournal.com]

Dang - where's the bellowing guy when I need him? I missed a bus by about 15 seconds today, and there was no one waiting at the stop to hold it for me.

You're right, though...bus riders in this town are exceptionally nice and remarkably patient.

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

I'll have to show the bus portion of this to my mother, who gets uptight any time she's on public transit, worried about sharing a vehicle with strangers. A lot of her world view is shaped by cop shows, it seems. But in the real world the solo driver probably faces more danger from road-rage nuts and common idiots than transit riders face from their fellow passengers.

someone stuck a sign that says "Buffering..." on the Real building.

That made me laugh loud enough to startle Blondie (http://steve98052.livejournal.com/30070.html). Maybe that's a sign that I should get a faster net connection.

[ironymaiden]

i have been on the bus with unpleasant people, and the bus crowd tends to stick together and vocally encourage civil behavior and respect for the driver.
my fears on the bus are about lack of control - what if i miss the bus, what if i miss my stop, what if the route isn't what i think it is?

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

Yeah, bus crowds have always seemed friendly to me too, and in cases where troublemakers have caused enough grief to make the news, it seems like witnesses always report people trying to help resolve the problem.

I know what you mean about things like mixing up routes, missing stops, and so forth. I live on the Eastside, so the bus only works well to certain places (it's the best way to baseball, for example, and good for single-stop errands downtown). Since I don't use it all that often, I don't know the system very well. My wife is a lot better; she has a much better feel for the system than I do.

[sinthrex.livejournal.com]

someone stuck a sign that says "Buffering..." on the Real building.

No picture? :(