I always called him by his full name because it made him laugh. Shawn and I crossed paths in the lunchroom, on the road, at our lockers, the bullpen, the layovers, and everywhere else. We moved in similar circles. He and I both had the seniority to pick away from Atlantic Base, home of the hardest and most challenging routes; and we both had the seniority to pick away from night work, but for different reasons we wanted to be there, working our night shifts together downtown. I do it because I like the people and the pace; Shawn did it because he needed the money, and overtime is best found on the routes, times, and places that are least desirable.
But the 70 is such a cush route. It doesn't even go to 12th and Jackson. It's too short for sleepers. It's just the 70. Shawn wasn't downtown, either. This happened in the U District. And, reading this at home, you might think 3 AM is a uniquely dangerous time, but it isn't. In post-COVID Seattle there's no difference in safety between 3 PM and 3 AM. Both are equally fraught. Remember the new full-timer who, perhaps because he was African, was [REDACTED to protect operator privacy]. That happened during afternoon rush hour, broad daylight with tons of people around. Our city allows this sort of thing. Let the terrible sentence live now as it did then, in that poor operator's horrific experience. He will never forget those minutes. The same is true for the ten people recently stabbed near 12th and Jackson within a 36-hour period, by one deranged individual who attacked all of his victims unprovoked and mostly from behind. There are good folks up there at that notorious intersection, from the small business owners to the seniors in affordable housing to yes, the youngsters outside struggling with drugs. I happen to really like some of those people. They don't deserve to be stabbed. Neither did Shawn. I consider his final moments with the paralysis of intimate sorrow, intimate because I’ve probably driven the very same vehicle was sitting in, and because I know exactly the terrain and timbre of his final time and place. Shawn Yim as he stumbled away from the bus, making it only a short distance before collapsing on the concrete, over there in the alley behind Wells Fargo, a young and healthy 59 year-old dying alone, collapsing not just in loss of blood but also in belief. How could it possibly end this way, so badly and so soon? All the things I'd planned for, hoped for, wanted to do, fix, see, live…. You remember that I was in the Paris terror attacks in 2015. My next book dives deep into that. But you also remember how decisively Paris, as a system of governance, took action in responding to something even as nebulous as terrorists, taking preventative measures while pursuing the appropriate action behind the scenes, swiftly and with the use of considerable resources. They ensured safety when the enemy was unknown and few. Our situation is different. Seattle’s problems and dangers are not hidden but obvious. They repeat in predictable and terrifying ways. Violent behavior happens here without intervention. Life-destroying drugs can be used in broad daylight without consequence. Unstable souls with desperate needs, dangers to themselves and others, are dumped on the street and left to rot amongst the crowd. Hundreds of millions of dollars and years of lip service are expended in the name of solving these crises, while 3rd Avenue remains exactly as unsafe as it was four years ago. The fact that it was Shawn Yim crushes me. A robust and friendly man, one of the few Korean-Americans at Atlantic Base besides myself. I rarely brought up our shared heritage but it was always there between us, an unspoken bond the others couldn't share. We would joke about the miserable state of things, the jesting laughs of our brief interactions emboldening us to carry onward. “I don't know how you do it, Nate," he'd smile, watching my enthusiasm as I prepped for another night on my 7. It happened five minutes into his last trip of his shift. Home stretch, almost done. He probably took the piece (we call shifts pieces) thinking this'll be easy, route 70 at night no big deal, nice easy route during the hours when there's no traffic, even better. What was he saving up for, working all those hours? The pain of losing Shawn is the fact that I always hoped to know him better. We were both of us continuously in motion, rushing through our lives, aware that we'd get more out of knowing each other but, you know, duty calls. Our friendship was a lifetime of unfinished conversations. Who was he, deep down? The two of us standing by the microwave, Shawn with his polished wire-frame glasses and trademark light blue oxford–only senior operators wear those, because the uniform store no longer makes them–with a reflective vest on top. His bald head and thoughtful eyes plus the professionalism of the glasses, contrasted with that safety vest, cast him as a sort of urban intellectual, the kind of person you can’t quite pin down, because they don’t fit into any one box. I always wanted to ask another question, share a little more. He knew my partner, and would joke about how good her Korean is. “That’s so creepy, you sound like my sister!” he'd tell her, laughing with that handsome, tired smile of his. Other times he'd be driving the bus I was riding, and we’d wax reflectively about human nature and the state of the city. Of course I wish I could remember our exact conversations. But how can I, sitting as I am in the shell-shocked immensity that is violent death? At least I can still recall the feeling, the easy sensation of another day with one of your favorite coworkers, joking the trip away while watching the road together. He was so good at letting me be myself, even when he had different views. I did the same for him. We never tried to change each other. Talking with him brought me joy. Why do we delay the things that matter most? It is the City’s responsibility–our leaders and ourselves–to make Seattle safe. To foster environments where people don't have to risk damage and death by merely using transit. After all that has happened and continues to happen, who among our leaders would dare to say meaningful progress has been made? My friends on the street and I know differently. We watch and wait as ever we have, waiting for legislation that could so easily reverse a lot of the things Seattleites have to suffer, waiting for someone with the agency and power and courage to come forward and make some real moves. That person will be named a hero. But whoever they end up being, they will be too late for Shawn Yim.
35 Comments
MichaelBailey
12/22/2024 10:08:16 am
Thank you for your thoughts and feelings.
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:09:00 am
Michael,
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Tutti
12/22/2024 11:13:03 am
Thank you Nathan for sharing. I’m truly sorry for the loss of your friend and colleague. He sounds like such an incredible man. I wish I could have known him.
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:10:27 am
Tutti,
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Michael Jacob
12/22/2024 12:23:03 pm
Thanks, Nate. You are absolutely right that someone needs to step up. At some point, someone needs to say that civil society has rights too, and the different agencies of governance need to take responsibility for the various problems on the street. It’s not a simple problem, But the fact that they’re talking about studying ways to prevent violence tells me the government agencies have no real interest in doing something immediate.
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:13:21 am
Michael-
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Jack Whisner
12/22/2024 12:34:19 pm
Thank you for sharing about Shawn Yim and our city. I visited Paris in 1994 and 1998. I was impressed with its transit answers. I shared them in the office and with elected officials; I seem to have made little progress. Route 70 was important to me; its improvement has taken a long time; in important ways, it is about to be degraded.
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:14:21 am
Paris and Seoul are the best transit I've ever used. And yes, pulling the J off 15th and off of Campus Parkway was a major mistake. I would've liked to see it restored to 50th; lots of SLU riders live up there.
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Scotty McDonell
12/22/2024 12:41:07 pm
Thank you Nate for sharing your pain. Now it is time to wrestle with the recurring issues of violence towards transit operators, again. I am not there to lead the charge, you are. So many of us have tried, with some success, but with your leadership and following you can succeed where we failed. Please use your resources and audience to bring safety back to a thankless job. You and I know the gratefulness of our riders and the joy a warm bus brings on a cold winter's day or night. We know there are ways to improve safety without giving up the human contact we crave. Please take the steps and do the needed work to preserve the sanctity of "being in the seat". I will gladly volunteer my time, wisdom and experience if needed. It is the least all of us from similar pasts can do. Against, thank you .and a hug full of brotherly gratefulness for good days and better days.
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:17:02 am
Thanks for your kind words, Scotty, and for keeping up with the blog! If I had the ability to do what you suggest, I sure would. I do hope this incident doesn't lead to Metro making fear-based solutions, or forgetting the reality that this is a customer service job. Isolation from other humans is not the solution; a safer city is the solution. It's on Seattle's shoulders.
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Pat Broadwell
12/22/2024 02:02:53 pm
Thank you for your insight and wisdom.
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:17:40 am
Thanks for reading, Pat. Writing helps me through difficult times like this.
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Tony B(East Base)
12/22/2024 03:24:28 pm
Very well put Nate! I would see Shawn while laying over driving the 545! What a sad thing that happened! We don't think that driving a bus that kind of thing would happen.... until it does! Be safe friends In Solidarity!!
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:18:44 am
Especially the fact that he died less than 10 minutes after engaging with this guy! What a tragic escalation. Tragic. Thanks for reading, Tony, and for your words of support!
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Anthony Oetjens
12/22/2024 07:03:50 pm
Wow Nate, thank you for those strong words. You have always been a person to look up too. Reading this has brought up so much emotions. Being apart of that entire night feeling helpless behind the radio of the TCC not knowing exactly what was going on kills me on the u side. Having to send our fellow co workers into unknown dangers and into a I know situations brings me to loss of sleep.
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:20:43 am
Anthony,
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Awet
12/22/2024 08:21:19 pm
U just make me cry 😢
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:21:00 am
Hard times. Hard times!!!
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Saul Harris
12/22/2024 09:53:28 pm
I am deeply shocked by this senseless violence. I regularly take the 70 from that very stop, and now knowing that Shawn was killed there will make those trips extremely difficult moving forward. I really appreciate you discussing the ignorance our city has shown towards this rise of violent crime, it has gotten out of control, and I’m waiting for the day this cycle is broken. Just in this post you touched on the growing violence more than anyone in our city’s leadership, thank you for everything, stay strong 587.
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:22:57 am
Thank you so much, Saul. It is amazing, the degree to which the city allows this type of behavior. I often have friends visit from other cities, and in every case their reaction to the condition of Seattle's streets is the same: complete shock and disbelief. 'They allow this??? For years???' How many violent deaths will it take?
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Bekah J
12/23/2024 10:14:00 pm
Oh Nathan… ((hugs))
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:23:56 am
Bekah J!!
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Rodrigo
12/24/2024 08:07:51 am
What a beautiful dedication to your friend and fellow driver. People like you and Shawn are really part of the core infrastructure that makes cities work and we (the city, its citizens) have our role to play as well. Thank you for remembering Shawn and his grace and for reminding us about the humans that make our lives move.
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:25:18 am
Rodrigo,
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Liz White
12/24/2024 06:02:35 pm
Thank you, Nathan. Such a great loss. I am grateful for your comment on KUOW about bullet proof driver boxes NOT being the answer, that kind of militaristic set up sending the wrong message.
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:27:36 am
Liz-
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Former Operator
12/26/2024 10:44:13 pm
As we left flowers and stood there in memory of Shawn, my partner quietly said, "I'm glad you quit before this happened to you." The route was a bit different when I drove it in 2019 and it may seem strange to some that I preferred work like the Route 36 or the 7 over it, even after the pandemic, but the 70 was one of those routes I swore never to pick a second time, and that stretch of it on 15th was actually where I experienced some of the most actively confrontational fare-evading passengers on it. NOT on the 70's downtown portions! I have some very clear, uncomfortable memories thanks to unsavory characters on that route in that same section of UW, despite having been a part-timer (ie "safe" commuter hours) BEFORE the pandemic made everything about the job worse! It was the lack of backup support. I felt so much more completely and utterly alone when facing confrontational street people on my bus in the University District than I ever felt when facing them anywhere downtown! So, to me, the location hasn't seemed surprising.
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Nathan
12/27/2024 09:30:56 am
FO,
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Former Operator
12/27/2024 03:43:23 pm
Nathan,
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Linda Averill
12/28/2024 07:19:47 am
Nathan you are the hero you are waiting for. Your piece is magnificent and powerful. And we are all the heroes we are waiting for. We have to demand and make the change we want to see in the world. Thank you for your continued humanity and clear vision.
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Nathan
12/30/2024 07:49:32 am
Linda,
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Paul Margolis
1/5/2025 07:45:50 pm
I bow deeply to you brother.
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Nathan
1/10/2025 08:31:44 pm
The same to you, sir.
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Linnea
1/10/2025 01:55:52 pm
I went to view the bus/transit vehicle procession this morning from 5th Ave N (near Mercer) because I wanted to honor Shawn and show my solidarity.
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Nathan
1/10/2025 08:33:38 pm
Hi Linnea,
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