Bus Driver Wisdom

Routine

Sun, 29 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400

I miss my old routine. I miss getting on Mark’s bus and hearing his never ending stories about the kinds of vehicles he drove before taking up public transit. I miss him asking, “Same stop as usual?” or even just pulling over at Storey and Escalona without a reminder of which stop was mine. I miss waving to him on my walk back up High Street as I reflected on my week and what I had to be thankful for. I missed my chance to tell Mark thanks, but I suppose he already knows…

Today I walked back up High Street after my internship at...

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:43:00 -0400

Today I walked back up High Street after my internship at Mission Hills and got on a loop bus at the base of campus. I opened up my newspaper to finish reading the article I had started this morning just as the bus driver glanced at me and smiled. Of course, I really wanted to strike up a conversation over the article, but it was a pretty full bus and was just going to get busier so I refrained from distracting him. I quietly went back to reading my paper after smiling back, but looked up now and again to catch him happily enjoying his tunes as he toted students around campus. At Kresge almost everyone had cleared off the bus and I got a chance to talk to him. After hearing several exceptional songs that even had me humming to myself and tapping my foot, I decided to ask him what station it was he was listening to. He responded by asking me if I liked it, I nodded excitedly, and shortly after he pulled out a CD case with a mix inside. He handed it to me. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t wait to get home so I could pop it in my computer and listen. I rushed back to Porter after hopping off the bus and thanking Luis for the ride and wonderful gift. With a smile on my face I waited impatiently for the CD to load. It didn’t load. I tried again. And again. And again. I had almost given up hope when finally my computer decided to run the disk. I listened in bliss as I heard “The Long and Winding Road,” come through my speakers. And then, ”Knock on Wood,” followed by ”I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight.” I was in love. With the Bus Driver Playlist.

steve walker. ask him about his cat if you ever get a chance to...

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 02:26:35 -0500

steve walker. ask him about his cat if you ever get a chance to ride on a bus with him.

Princess

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 23:18:00 -0500

Today I boarded the 20D - UCSC Westside metro bus at 7:50am. There were three other people already on the bus, but they departed before we exited campus.

I turned to the bus driver and told him, “I guess it’s just you and me, huh?”

We struck up several conversations, which first started with the weather, typical as that is. He told me stories about moving to Watsonville from Mexicali, boxing ice-berg lettuce as a seasonal job and returning to Southern California. He told me he was filling in for someone who called in sick, and that his favorite routes to drive were the UCSC routes. We talked about highway 17 and the terrible twists and turns that cause traffic pile-ups.

Sadly my stop was coming up and I let him know the next one was me. He asked where I wanted him to pull over so he could stop early and let me off at the closest location.

As we finally introduced ourselves, he told me, “You know, when I don’t have any passengers I feel like a taxi driver, when I have one passenger I feel like a limousine driver, and when I have a bus full of people I just feel like a plain old bus driver. Thanks for making me feel like a limousine driver this morning.”

I smiled and laughed, “Well, thank you for making me feel like I was riding in a limousine.” I reluctantly got off at Swift & Delaware, waving good-bye to my wonderful chauffeur and happily hurrying along to class.

Thank you Michael. For making me feel like a princess this morning.

"No. Stay indecisive, you never know where it could take you"

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 22:54:21 -0500

““No. Stay indecisive, you never know where it could take you””

- West Night Core Bus Driver