How long has it been since you rode a bus, or waited at a bus stop?

My bride and I go on about an hour walk, six days a week and we pass two bus stops along the way. One is just a sign in someone’s yard that the bus stops at if someone is standing there and the other has a little hut with a bench in it for folks to wait in. We have passed by while people were waiting at the sign, polite folks we are we always say hello and receive a hello back 99% of the time. There is never any debris around this stop, no soda cans, no red bull cans, no cigarette packs not much of any trash at all. At the other stop, the one with the hut and bench seating, there is a big trash can but there is always trash all over the place. All sorts of items all over the place, except in the trash can. We have pondered why that might be, could it be that it is nearer an apartment complex instead of further back in the neighborhood? Could it be a busier stop, could that be because it offers a shady place to sit. I really have no idea as I am not a bus rider.

When gas was 4 dollars a gallon I looked into riding the bus to work to see if it would save me a bit of money. I would not be comfortable with my bride riding the city bus but I thought, I can do it without really worrying about it. I live about 10-12 minutes from work, driving my jalopy, that usually includes the stop for me to get my coffee in the morning. With a short commute and having an old jalopy that gets 21-22 miles per gallon my commute costs are pretty low anyway. Well I was stunned at what it would cost me to ride the bus. I found that I live in a spot that required me to ride three buses to get close to where I work, three buses at a buck a ride each way it was not going to be economically sound for me to ride the bus. If it were raining I would have to stand in the rain waiting for the bus and I would still have a walk the last leg to work in the rain as well. On top of all that it was going to take me over 1 hour each way on a bus, that alone would be enough for me to keep driving.

I have observed on my way to work sometimes a bus sitting on University bvld while the driver went into the Gate station to get their coffee and donut. This seemed ridiculous to me as it was very difficult for patrons to get out of the parking lot, the bus not only blocks the lane but makes it nearly impossible to see to get out safely. I always wondered if I were on that bus, would I be pissed that the driver took my time to stop and get a coffee and donut. I concluded I probably would be pissed, he can bring a thermos with coffee and a danish from home, since I was never on that bus I can’t say for sure but I think it would upset me. On our walk the other afternoon as we approached the bus stop, the one with the hut we noticed the bus had been sitting there for a while. As we approached we thought maybe something was wrong with the bus or maybe one of the passengers, we could not have been more wrong. We get up to the hut there on the bench is the bus driver smoking a cigarette, while passengers waited for him.

Now I am sure that if I were on that bus I would be pissed, I was pissed for them as I walked by. Being polite and on a new quest to say hello to every stranger we met or walked past, we said hello. Well this yahoo says hello and then immediately starts talking about how the neighborhood had really gone downhill lately. I was incredulous, we do not live in a high dollar gated community but our neighborhood is nice and we do not really have any crime problems. I disagreed with him and pointed out that the bus stops he stops at to smoke are not indicative of the neighborhoods they are occupying. I was almost speechless but could not let that comment go by without comment. My first reaction was to judge him and what kind of neighborhood he lived in but I caught myself, hell he might live one street over from me.

As we continued our walk I just could not get over the fact he stopped the bus, with passengers, to smoke a cigarette. I was still peeved about the comment on our neighborhood as well. Our walk takes us out and then we turn around and come back, covering the same ground in reverse. It makes it easy to change routes, walk for 30 minutes and turn around. Anyway not the point, when we are on our way back, maybe 5 minutes later, this dude is still smoking cigarettes. He now has a couple of passengers with him on the bench smoking and laughing, I did not understand. I almost called the JTA to report the incident but decided against it, if the passengers did not mind, who was I to say anything? On the trip home we talked about riding the bus and since I have not ridden a bus since I was in high school I decided that I was in no position to comment on buses, their drivers or their passengers and am just thankful that I do not to rely on the bus system to get around.

So when was the last time you rode the bus?