Lady 1 and Lady 2 are at the front. Lady 1 is described here. Lady 2, older and white, has just stepped on; a street denizen with wizened eyes.
Lady 1: "Where you gettin' off at?" Lady 2: "I don't have to tell you that." Lady 1: "Why not?" Lady 2: "'Cause it's my business. Mind your own business." Lady 1: "You're being unfriendly. I bet- I bet you hate your job." Lady 2: "You need to mind your own business." Lady 1: "Driver, this lady's bein' rude to me." Me: "Yeah?" My gears are turning, trying to figure out the best approach. Lady 1: "Yeah. She's being unfriendly." Me: "Maybe she's had a tough day (I should have said "long day." More diplomatic). You never know." Lady 1: "What? Oh." Lady 2: "Why'djoo ask me where I'm gettin' off?" Lady 1: "'Cause I thought you might be friendly." A pause, containing deafening silence- Lady 1: "Driver, why aren't you doing anything? She's being unfriendly." Me: "Well, you know, that's allowed. Sometimes people are gonna be nice, and sometimes not nice. We can't all be 100 percent all the time." Lady 2: "That's right." Lady 1 [to Lady 2]: "Well, I hope you hate your job and, and, and, that people are really rude to you today." Me: "Oh, we don't need to say stuff like that! That's unfriendly!" Lady 1: "Oh, I'm just getting back at her for what she said to me." Me: "No, that's no way to do things. We don't need to do that." Me, into the mic: "Our next stop is Bell Blanchard, Belltown. Here's Bell Street. After this we'll go to Virginia." People file out; I check for incoming passengers, and there aren't any. Doors closing, but- Man 1, inside: "Hey, can I get out?" Me: "Sure!" He steps out, and here's a man outside with a cane. It's Man 2. "Heey!" I say, kneeling the coach. Man 2: "Hey, bro. I didn't mean to call you dipshit," Me: "Hey, I didn't hear anything! Come on in! How you doin'." Man 2: "Oooohhh," Me: "Could be better, could be worse?" Man 2: "Yeah. We'll go with that." Me: "Yeah, why not. Lookin' at the bright side." Man 2: "There's a bright side?" Me: "It's somewhere out there!" We service the Virginia Zone, and move down to Pike. Soon Man 2 and I are praising the beautiful weather. It's afternoon, but it's foggy. Third and Pike. I turn to Lady 2 as she walks out, saying quietly, "thanks for being patient." Lady 2: "No problem. You take care." Me: "You too." Lady 1: "Can you drop me off up there?" Me: "Sure, lemme pull forward for ya." Inwardly, I'm thinking: this 125 in front of us is doing a road relief. I'll pull around him and block temporarily while our friend here steps out. Should only take a second. Lady 1: "I was just asking where she was going, and she got all mad at me. I wasn't trying to make her," Me, making sure we have enough clearance as we pull around the 125: "Yeah, I know you weren't trying to get on her nerves. People are just touchy sometimes. We gotta be patient." Lady 1: "Are you gonna be here tomorrow?" Me: "Yes indeed, I'm here every weekday, same time same place! You can ride my bus anytime you like!" Lady 1: "Thank you." As she steps out, a man in a chair with two stumps for legs signals me. It's Man 3. I signal in return, and start deploying the lift. The remaining exchanges below took place in under a minute, in what felt like a single sustained breath, nary a pause for air, your brain intercutting the onslaught as the world ramps up into a sort of multitasking overdrive: Lady 3: "Do you go to, are you gonna go down, uh," My internal monologue: This bus is too close to the curb to deploy the lift. I need to pull away about 6 inches. Me, to Lady 3: "Be with you in one moment." Me, to Man 3: "I gotta pull forward to do the lift, gimme a hot second." Man 3: "Cool." Me: "Okay." Lady 3: "Do you go to," Me: "I'm gonna go down Third to Columbia. Wanna go to Columbia?" Me to Man 3: "There we go." Lady 3: "Yes." Man 3 looks like he needs a push; I'm blocking everything; that 125 is definitely chomping at the bit by now. He wants to get out of here, and can't. I'm at a mild diagonal, and he, the 125 driver right behind me, can see me- I wave at him, in an effort to placate him. Can't see who it is- Me: "Do you need a push?" Man 3: "Yeah." Me: "Let's give you a push." I dart out of the coach and push him up the ramp, wheel him into position- "let's see here, we got one [strap] down, don't mind me, I'm just gonna reach in here," Man 3: "I wanna go to the last," Man 4, boarding: "Hey man," Me: "Oh hey," Man 3: "Go to the last," Man 4: "I'll be darned if I can find my transfer, somewhere in here," Me: "That's fine, you can pay me next time," Man 5, currently seated by the front: "I can get this." Gesturing at the wheelchair straps. Me: "Wha- oh, thanks! I can get that. Thank you! I should be payin' you guys! I'm just a volunteer bus driver here!" Man 2: "We'll be callin' for that paycheck!" Me: "I got you covered!" Man 3: "Thanks, bro." Me: "Sure. Thank the fine gentleman here." Lady 4, now entering: "Do you go to Capitol Hill?" Me: "No, but if you go across the street right over there, you can grab a 49, or a 10..." Lady 4: "A 49 or a 10..." Me: "Yeah, lotsa good stuff over there." Lady 4: "Thanks." Me: "Sure." Man 3: "I wanna go to the last stop on this treet." Me : "My last stop on this street is Columbia. I can take you to Columbia?" Man 3: "Thanks." Lady 3: "Do you stop at Columbia?" Me: "I do stop at Columbia! Be happy to take you over there." Into the mic: "alright everyone, time to get outta here!" Forty-five, maybe fifty seconds. It's a breathless rush of exhilaration. Ah, yes. I was meant to be here. I take the light, waving a big smile at the drivers across the street.
4 Comments
Lisa
11/3/2013 09:45:14 pm
Your posts (maybe this one less so, but) remind me of a magazine I used to subscribe to: The Sun. I had to be in the right mood to absorb all of what it was saying sometimes, and there was a mixture of documentary and other articles including fiction, but it's the feeling I get. Something a little raw in its affection for all the emotions and situations and truths of humans. Anyway, I just thought your readers or you might be interested in that magazine, if it's still going.
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Nathan
11/5/2013 06:33:30 pm
Lisa,
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Stephanie
11/4/2013 07:56:52 am
Bus-talk. For Ladies 1&2, it's all or nothing. Wh-h-h-e-e-l-l, (all lower case pronunciation) they just got to some meaning in life....ON da bus.
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Nathan
11/5/2013 06:35:50 pm
It is the bus driver rush indeed. It's amazing how much can happen in so short a time!
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