Ridin’ The 311
It’s Wednesday, February 10th and I’m at the bus stop early. The 311 doesn’t arrive for 15 minutes yet. This is the kind of morning that mysteries are made of. Ya know ….. “It was a gloomy night ……”
Standing in the dark, light rain falling, traffic zooming by, and their drivers did not seem to care that I’m there all alone. Maybe glad that they are safe in their cars? Even though I’m pretty sure I can take care of myself, I did feel a little vulnerable standing there all alone. After all, on any other day I would have been one of those drivers, safe in that mobile iron box.
Ah, another human approaches. She is carrying two shopping bags and a water bottle.
“Good morning!”
Sitting down on the bench, she glares at me and says “I don’t talk to strangers!” That was my clue to make no further attempt to be cordial. Interestingly, she did proceed to carry on quite a bit of conversation with herself.
A bus approaches and she boards. Now I’m alone again and the rain keeps coming down. It’s getting lighter, but I still feel vulnerable. I hear a noise behind me and I jump a little. A man is coming down the grassy slope from the Safeway parking lot. My heart beat picks up a bit as he approaches, but he ignores me and stands off to the side, saying nothing. Obviously, he is not interested in conversation either.
Here comes the 311, scheduled to arrive at 06:30 AM and it’s very close to being right on time. It’s a big two-section, articulated bus. Walking up to it, the bus seems a lot bigger than I remember it from my mobile iron box each day.
I show my King County Superior Court Jury Duty bus pass, the driver glances at it, says good morning with a great smile, and waves me by. He waits until I take a seat before he starts to move the bus.
The bus is almost empty. I grab a seat close to the front near the driver. Next major stop, the Woodinville Park & Ride. We pick up several there. Next major stop after that is the Brickyard Park & Ride. We pick up more people.
The bus is starting to fill up.
At each stop, I watch the other passengers as they board. Most say “Hi” to the driver, some greeting him like an old friend, and then take a seat ……. without ever acknowledging their fellow passengers. They sit down, not making eye contact with anyone, close their eyes and seem to nod off, bury their face in a book or newspaper or just stare off into the distance. Maybe it would be interesting to be able to read a few minds ……..or maybe not.
One young man, business casual dressed, took out his phone and punched in a number. For the next several miles he impressed the entire front half of the bus as he talked about his business exploits. As loud as he was talking, I’m sure he did “make an impression” on many of his fellow passengers, if their disapproving glances were any indication. He didn’t have a clue. Inconsiderate pompous ass is a term that comes to mind, but like the rest of the passengers, I tried, without success, to ignore the guy.
As we merge onto 405 South, I watch the driver handle the morning traffic as he maneuvered that big bus across to the HOV lane. My guess, on that one trip to Seattle, he had to brake at least a half dozen times because some idiot cut in front of him. I watched his face. He never got flustered. I couldn’t have kept that composure! If I had been in my own mobile iron box, I would have given him or her a real whatfor!
It seems few want to have that big green monster in front of them. As he signals, a few drivers speed up to get ahead of him, but most back off and give him the room.
As we travel along, the driver gets periodic traffic updates from his base, warning drivers about traffic problems along their routes. No change in the driver’s expression. Another driver cuts in front of him as he approaches the exit to west bound 520. Again, no change in his expression as he gently applies the brake to keep from hitting the idiot. His passengers don’t even notice.
I consider the merge from 520 West onto I-5 South, and then quickly moving over to a right lane being something of a suicide dash! Not these bus drivers! Even though the guy next to them won’t let them in the lane because they might get to work 10 seconds later than usual, the bus drivers put up with their stupidity.
We arrived at 5th Ave & Jefferson St. a minute or so earlier than what the schedule said. I step off the bus having a new appreciation for those men and women who transport us safely to and from our destinations each day.
Over two days of jury duty, I had a chance to observe two men and one woman driver as they safely took me to Seattle and back to the Woodinville Safeway stop. They just plain did a great job. The buses were clean and well maintained. It was a safe and convenient way to get to Seattle and back home.
I can’t count the number of times I have sped up in my trusty mobile iron box to get around a bus. I absolutely believe that every driver on the road should be required to ride on one of the Metro buses at least once. It’s a hell of a revelation!
That was my first experience ever as a transit rider. I saved a substantial parking fee, the aggravation of fighting that traffic by riding the bus, and I got to meet a few really nice people! I’m a convert!
