The View From Nathan's Bus

Clarification: Not Quite What I Said

4/1/2020

Really quick, but very important–

The difference between popularity and fame, as I define those words, is that popularity has more to do with being known directly, from primary interactions with the person in question. Fame is when you read about whoever it is in a Newsweek editorial. That isn't primary experience, but secondary or, more often, tertiary; and in those scenarios the truth can get hazy real fast.

I like being popular. I don't like being famous. Because that's when people start twisting your words, and the others who don't know you start believing them. I was just alerted this morning by a rider who knows me that my recent interview on KIRO is being taken out of context and being used as weaponized fodder against Seattle's homeless population and transit at large.

That wasn't the idea, people.

When I stated, as linked in the audio and transcript of the full interview below, that 80 percent of my riders are non-destination passengers, I was careful to emphasize that I was referring explicitly to my anecdotal experience alone, and only during the time of the coronavirus outbreak that followed Jay Inslee's stay-at-home order. I couldn't have been more clear. Did I say this was a bad thing? Ah, the way assumptions tell more about the assumer than the speaker themselves... I also took time to make explicit that I had no pejorative intention, and that, as anyone familiar with me knows, I take great and humble pleasure in serving and being accepted by the homeless community. If you have taken even a passing interest in my work, none of this is news to you.

You can guess which parts the right-wing organizations left out. You can guess how much time they spent with my full interview, with my book or blog. I'm purposely not linking to them because I'm not going to further popularize views that advocate for suppression, prejudice, hate, and racism.

The idea I was attempting to articulate in the interview was that the question of transit during a virus outbreak is a complex one. That's it, period point blank. Do I have answers? Of course not, and I chuckle at anyone who claims to during this time, except perhaps virologists and other medical experts. This is not the time for political backbiting and armchair quarterbacking. I'm not qualified to have an opinion on the decisions currently being made, and wish only to add to the discussion, not supplant it. I definitely wasn't saying we should deny service to those in need, nor did I imply that anyone doesn't deserve a ride. Guys, it's me here. I'm Nathan. Doesn't all that go without saying?

I assume goodness in people, and as I've stated before, it's gotten me in hot water from time to time. I assume listeners would take a moment for the full interview, because I optimistically imagine they're interested in hearing what I have to say in full, rather than cherry-picking quotes they can distort toward their own nefarious ends. I assume good intentions.

Please assume the same of me.

Full interview with Dave Ross here, including transcript.
Context helps; here's another recent interview on similar subject matter: NPR: KUOW: The Friendly Bus Driver in Socially Distant Times (scroll down for my 11-minute segment)

7 Comments

Julie L Green

4/1/2020 11:23:52 am

I don't know you personally, but I know all I need to know through your words to completely assure me of your true intentions and your amazing, graceful heart. I am sufficiently immunized against those who don't get you simply because they can't, or because they won't. :-)

Nathan

4/1/2020 11:46:44 am

Thanks so much, Julie, for your kind words and for taking a moment to read this. I'm grateful for your support and that of so many thoughtful readers!

Anonymous (likes to meet at Hangout Zero)

4/1/2020 01:13:58 pm

There are many types of homeless people. Some of them fit into a very traditional mold where they have a tent, mobile home, or a large pack that has tarps and sleeping bags in it. These folks need to ride the bus to buy food or access services go to the doctor etc.

There is another level of homelessness that is possibly a great deal larger. There is a massive network of women, men and even some families with children who are in a system of staying in temporary (permanent temporary for some) shelter. These often are churches that open their doors to homeless at night around 8:00-10:00PM and need to be out of the church at 6:00 AM. These folks often travel Long distances on the bus to get to and from their temporary shelter. When they get kicked out of their shelter at 6:00AM, IT IS VERY COLD IN SEATTLE!!! Many of them make their way to Day shelters. Until the day shelter opens, they often have nowhere to go. So some of them choose to ride buses. Others don’t want to go to the day shelters and if it is cold, they end up in buses ‘just riding’ and they usually get off at the end of then when asked and the. Get back and ride the other direction. My question at this point, is how is this person supposed to shelter in place? If they get sick, how are they supposed to Self-Quarantine? How are they supposed to follow the mandate that you should not ride a bus when you are sick? This is a problem in our nation that we have putting band-aids on for the last 20 years and at this point We need the state and or the country to come up with a solution to this problem. Buy some hotels? Something!? I believe that the homeless population is the single most unresolved danger of this pandemic spreading to everyone in the city.

There are more types of homeless people as well. The system I just described above is very scary at times. I have driven the buses that move these large groups of homeless men and women to and from the shelters and, like many large groups in society, they can be terrifying. They can have bullying, hierarchies of power, mental illness, theft, illness, bed bugs. Many people are afraid to participate in this system. I have seen why. These folks, who do not have a tent and do not want to participate in the shelter system, they choose to ride the bus all night. This is the type of person who is homeless who is most like you or I. Perhaps once they where like you and I, accept they had a much weaker safety net. My safety net personally is massive. There are many family members who could help me, parents, brothers, sisters, uncles and even some close friends. So, this person loses their job or they get depressed (as humans do)and develop a drug or alcohol problem and end up missing a tent payment and then find themselves homeless. Afraid of the shelters and without a tent, they turn to the bus. It is warm, it is relatively safe and there is an adult there (bus driver) who can help I you if anything bad happens. It is honestly what I would do if I were homeless. It is what homeless do when the shelters are full. If the homeless person does not arrive to their designated church by a certain time, then they are turned away, and they go and get into a bus.

I drive the Night Owl all night bus for 5 years. I am a compassionate human being. I gave many of them money, I bought them food, cigarettes replacement tips for their crutches. One man named Galen knew my schedule and would meet me each day and ride until I went back to the base and the. He had a system of buses he would ride until Seattle Mental Health would where he would spend his days. Then he would head back out to the buses at night and on the weekends he would ride all day and night. I asked him once how long he had been riding buses and he said that his mom used to take care of him, he had some minor but very functional level of developmental delay (I only mention this to emphasize that some homeless have little control over the situation that they have landed in) and after his mom died in 1979 he began to ride buses. 1979 particularly affected me because it was the year I was born. I first met him in 2007 and he had just a cane then. He had diabetes. Ultimately he shifted to crutches and about 5 years ago he passed away. I considered him a friend. He was irritable, at times a total asshole, wildly homophobic, but he was a human and he was also kind and he was a friend. How, if he were alive, could he self-quarantine and avoid riding a bus? This needs to be addressed immediately. It is the main reason why I chose to self-quarantine. The homeless, no matter my level of compassion and my love for them, have no choice but to ride the bus and they will spread this to each other and to Operators who will spread it to anyone else riding a bus. It is our cities weakest link. I don’t know the solution.

There is also a terrible drug issue in Seattle and some folks higher then high stumble onto the bus and sleep. As Operators w

[continued]

4/1/2020 03:51:34 pm

There is also a terrible drug issue in Seattle and some folks higher then high stumble onto the bus and sleep. As Operators we wake them up and ask them to leave at the end of the line. Some refuse, but others agree. They don't know where they are, they never did. They don't know where they are going. They don't know where they've been. Do you think they worried about washing their hands? Are they going to self-quarantine when they get sick?

Bus Drivers are being turned away from hotels and businesses when we try to use the restroom. if they will not let us in, then how are our homeless customers supposed to wash their hands to the standard of the CDC? I know some of them want to. They are just as afraid as you and I because they are people, like you and I.

Eveline Mueller-Graf

4/8/2020 08:54:47 am

Do you know Joe Bernstein? He is a non sheltered homeless freelance writer. He told me that there was a chance for Seattle to buy portable hand washing stations, but Durkan declined. She has been cruel to the homeless and Joe wondered what happened to her that she hates them so much.
But anyway, apparently in hindsight Seattle wanted to order those stations but are now on a waitlist. I could not fact check that, so I just pass on what he told me.
The other concern he had was the drinking water fountains are still turned off. With all the restrooms closed he speculated that the city wants to kill off the unsheltered, letting them die of thirst.
And yes, I also have a concern about us drivers: How do WE keep our hands clean? And where do we pee? Why did we not get porta potties with hand wash stations?? (We had one at the end of the 2 when the comfort station was in repair). The city should have set up those strategically, before they worked on getting the upper echelons into safety. Nathan, you are too polite. I am critiquing the top for not acting sooner and more organized. After all, it all started in Seattle and they had plenty of time to get prepared. I do not expect it to be perfect, but at least try.
And give the homeless water!
And one more huge concern that I have, since I'm an E-liner: The ladies on Aurora are still out, being the most vulnerable and unprotected, and in complete lack of any safety net. They also can't file for unemployment. I know there is a go fund me by a group trying to help and protect them, (Great) but how far does it go?

4/1/2020 03:55:30 pm

Anonymous–

Not much I can add here that you haven't more wisely and perceptively said. I'll be reading and rereading your words for some time to come, to learn, to keep perspective, and to continue building a better understanding of how to think. Thank you for taking the time to share this in full.

Stories of mine about Gaylen-
-when he was alive: http://www.nathanvass.com/the-view-from-nathans-bus/lift
-when he was dead: http://www.nathanvass.com/the-view-from-nathans-bus/rest-peacefully-lost-faces

4/9/2020 11:05:08 am

Eveline–

Love your words. Thanks for speaking the truth, and forcefully! You're right, I am too nice! We need voices like yours during times like these.

Clarification: Not Quite What I Said

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