BUS STORY # 117, (Some Drivers, Part 1)

“I’ve got a bus story for you,” my friend Nick* tells me. We’re having dinner at the Siam Café. I’m all ears.

Nick had taken the bus to go see his doctor. In the doctor’s office, he got some discouraging news. When he left the office, he went to catch the bus back home.

He didn’t know the exact scheduled time the bus came by this stop, but he knew his bus ran every 20 minutes. Maybe it was a minute away. Or five. Certainly no more than 19. Good thing, too, because the stop wasn’t sheltered and it was hot, and after hearing the doctor’s news, all he wanted was to get home.

The No. 5 went by. Then 20 minutes went by, but no bus. After a long while, the No. 5 came by again. Nick took it because it would get him part of the way home and because he wanted to get moving and get out of the sun. He planned to get off at Carlisle where the routes quit sharing the same road and wait for the No. 11 there.

When he got off, he looked west. Nothing in sight. He walked a block north thinking he might just walk the rest of the way home. It was still hot, though. So he turned south and walked back to Lomas. He saw the No. 11 coming toward the stop on the south side of the street. He waited for the traffic, then crossed the street and walked up to the bus. The driver didn’t open the door. Nick rapped on the door, held up his transfer. The driver shook his head “no.”

When the bus started to pull out, Nick told me he just lost it. The heat, the bad news, the bus not showing up, and now this – it was too much. He banged on the windows of the bus as it was moving out and roundly cursed the driver.

This story is remarkable for three reasons. One is that I’ve known Nick for a long time and I’ve never seen him lose his temper. Another is that neither of us has experienced anything but consideration from our drivers, especially this year. And the last is that I have a bus story from this same week and same route that is remarkably similar.
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*Real name changed.