In Front of the Yellow Line
By Shawn Wells
My Obsessions
Recently, I watched an episode of "Hawaii 5-0" in which the character Danny "Danno" Williams gets his car stolen while he's spending time with his kids. As part of the quality family time, he had insisted that he and his teenage daughter leave their phones in the car. So now, stranded on the wrong side of the island with no car and no phone, he now sees his best option to be taking a bus back home. Telling his kids "you meet some interesting people on a bus."
For some reason, this plot point gave me a little thrill. Partly because of the mention of the interesting people his children are bound to encounter (pretty much the basis of this blog) but also because of the kinship I now share with this character. He's suddenly more relatable to me. It's like when you go to a concert and the lead singer yells out the name of your home town. Or when you're reading a book and the author mentions one of your own pastimes as something the protagonist enjoys. Just gives you a giddy thrill. "Oh wow! They're just like me!"
As you can imagine (or if you watch Hawaii 5-0) the story of Danny's bus ride doesn't end there. During his ride home, his bus happens to pass his stolen car. Well, of course the next course of action is to use his law enforcement influence and get the bus driver to persue the car thief. Sitting on my couch, a snort of laughter escaped my face. My wife looks at me and say "What are you laughing at?" I said "The fact that they expect to catch that car in a bus." "Thought as much." my wife responded. Really, in my humble opinion, there is no way a bus would manage to keep chase with ANY car let alone the fancy suped up Camaro that Danno just had stolen from him. (Plus, don't get me started on all the other flaws regarding the bus in this episode) And then, when things get really intense, Danny lets everyone else off the bus and takes over the driving duties himself, handling the bus like a pro.
Sure, Hollywood always takes liberties. I have to be willing to let things go and just enjoy the entertainment presented to me. But here's the problem with that: I'm easily influenced by my surroundings. It's always been a problem for me. In my life, I've had a couple dozen different jobs. Quite often when I start working for a new employer, I become obsessed with whatever that company's specialty is. Things that I wasn't interested in before I started working there, I suddenly become a huge advocate for. I've sold car audio equipment and ended up with subwoofers installed in my car. I worked in a furniture store and became very interested in home decor. A chef in a restaurant made me broaden my flavor horizons. A job in a hardware store made me want to renovate things. And so on.
Well, working as a bus driver is no different for me. Never in my life have I been interested in busses, until I started working on one. In fact, after watching that particular episode of Hawaii 5-0, one of the first things I did was email my friend who lives in Hawaii to ask her about the accuracy of the episode. Things like whether that is actually what their busses look like or whether those are the uniforms the drivers there get to wear. The answer was yes, by the way. THAT stuff, at least, was accurate. Man, I'd love to have a Hawaiian shirt as a uniform. It would be like Weird Al Yankovic driving a bus, which if you know his extensive and legendary music catalog, he actually does have a song about.
I'm off on a tangent. The point is, now that I'm a bus driver, I'm quite fascinated with how "the other half live" so to speak. I now notice the difference between my busses and other city's busses when I'm on vacation. I've even had friends humor me in my obsession and take pictures of local busses when they're on vacation as well. And I'm always fascinated by even the small differences. A picture one friend took for me in Pittsburgh showed busses that list the current temperature on the display. A picture a friend took in Vegas showed much different mirrors than my bus. And of course, the double deckers in London. Before I started working this job, I would've never noticed the busses but now I want to see them.
Even for places I have been before, but before I started driving one, I now want to see these busses I never noticed when I was there. I guess I'm a bit of a nerd. Naturally curious. However, not so curious that I'm willing to Google it to satisfy that curiosity. It means more to me when a friend takes a picture for me. And I'm also just interested in how they look. It's not like I know all the specifications of each individual bus. I'm just a casual observer. I'm not as obsessed as that guy that was in my training class. That's right, I'm talking about you, Mark.
But for those of you who have never driven a bus before, let me at least set one thing straight. In real life, a bus is not going to keep up with a Camaro. I'm sorry to destroy that illusion for you.
From in front of the yellow line, that's how I see it.
Sunday, 22 May 2016
Tuesday, 15 March 2016
In Front Of The Yellow Line
The Regulars
By Shawn Wells
One day I saw a woman running down a side road to catch my bus. Thinking she had missed me, she was surprised when I pulled over and stopped for her even though I wasn’t at a designated stop.
Woman: Oh Thank You! You are now my new favorite person on the entire planet!
Me: What a coincidence! I love collecting memories of people who tell me I’m their favorite person.
Woman: Well, I guess it worked out for both of us.
Me: It Sure did, number 7.
I had never seen this woman before. But since then, I’ve seen her a few more times. Always at the same place, same time and always running for my bus. I found out that it’s her work schedule that causes her to be cutting it so close. Because of this, I’ve made sure to always check down that side street at that time, every time I work that route. She has officially become one of my regulars.
She isn’t the only regular I have. It does, however, depend on which particular route I’m driving. Some of the busses I drive travel the same path as a dozen other routes, therefore people will get onto these busses without discrimination. They all end up at the same place (usually downtown) so it doesn’t usually matter to these passengers whether they get on mine, or the one behind me. I see familiar faces, sure, but no one I would call a “Regular”.
Now, give me a quiet little community route and that all changes. The ones where I’m picking up people from their houses and taking them to work. I get to know some of these people so well by sight or by where their stops are, without actually knowing anything else about them. Not even their names the majority of the time. I can have transfers already waiting for the people that I know are going to be paying fare rather than using a bus pass. I know which seats they’re going to be sitting in. I know which customers are going to be ready and waiting and which ones are going to be cutting it close. I know who is going to smile at me, who isn’t. Who is going to say thank you, who is just going to give me a wave. I know which customers to get extra close to the curb with because they have trouble with the step if I don’t. But the funniest thing is, no matter how familiar I get with some of these people’s habits, when the weather changes and they start wearing different coats or hats it throws me off.
There are advantages for you as a passenger if you are one of my regulars. Keep in mind, this may not necessarily apply to all bus drivers out there, but for me at least there can be perks. See, on top of learning people’s boarding habits, I also become familiar with their exit habits as well. I get used to which busses they need to connect to, which directions they head when they get off. So because of this, I will start to make adjustments to my own driving habits specifically for these people. Some of them are probably so subtle that I’m the only one who actually realizes I’m doing them. Things like not pulling a little past a stop because I know it puts them 30 feet closer to their destination.
I remember one regular woman I had on one of my routes who was on my bus every night. She knew that with the stop she wanted, if we hit a red light at the intersection before her stop, there was a good chance she would miss her connecting bus. However, if I let her off at the corner before going through the intersection, it was never a concern. The first couple times she had to ask, but after that I would do it without her having to. I eventually I got to the point where it was just let her off at that corner whether it was a red light or not because I knew it was the more convenient place for her anyway. The day came when I stopped working that route and moved on to my next shift. The interesting part is, one night a week I ended up driving the bus that she needed to transfer to. One night a week, I was still watching for this woman.
One of my favorite days to work is Sunday. Sure, part of it is because it’s a quieter day traffic wise. But i also get a kick out of the Sunday schedules because there are so many fewer busses on the road. There was one shift I worked where I was driving one particular route for 8 hours straight. What was special about this particular route is that I was literally the only bus on the road working this route. It gives me a feeling of power. A feeling of importance. Not to say that I don’t feel like I’m not important any other time. I know how many people count on me no matter what route I drive. But with this route, if I saw someone on the other side of the street waiting for my bus to go the other way, I could call them over to get on because I was going to be the next bus going that way. They’d have to sit on the bus for half an hour longer, but at least they weren’t waiting in the cold. This is one of those routes where I became familiar with my regulars more than just about any other bus I’ve ever driven. On a Sunday, I may not be taking many of them to work, but people are still creatures of habit. Going to church, weekly grocery trips, things like that. And because I was the only bus on the road, I would often see some of these people twice in my day. Taking them to church AND home from it. To the grocery store and home from. It was also a route where I became very conscious of looking for these regulars because I knew that If they missed my bus, they would have to wait an hour before I’d be back.
It isn’t just on my busses that I see regular passengers. There are definitely regular bus station people too. People that I seem to see a few times a week whether they’re on my bus of not. They stand out because of some distinguishing feature because frankly, they’re usually bizarre. There is the guy dressed like a 19th century trapper, full leather outfit with fringe, moccasins and a ‘coon skin cap. There is the grown man who wears a plush fox tail and ears. There is the woman who cleans the busses for us just because she feels like it. The guy that paces around the bus station while twirling his finger.
There are also the people I see that are just very regular transit users. It doesn’t even matter which bus I’m driving. I’ve thrown them off sometimes because I’ll make comments to them based on their quirks. Like one woman who is responsible for filling downtown restaurants with a local newspaper. She has a special cart that she has built to carry these papers around. I’ve had her on multiple routes I drive in the downtown area. But one time on the weekend, she got on my bus on the south side this time with a different cart that she was using for grocery shopping. I said to her “Ah… so is that your weekend cart?” And she was so taken aback by the fact that I recognized her. My response to that was that she had been on my bus numerous times and “frankly, I may not have recognized you if you hadn’t been pulling a cart.” It was the idea of changing to a new jacket all over again.
Regulars are great.
From in front of the yellow line, that’s how I see it.
Friday, 15 January 2016
In Front of the Yellow Line
My Fans
By Shawn Wells
Recently, I stumbled across a letter from a Hawaiian pen pal I had 20 years ago. Through the wonders of Facebook, I tracked her down and we reconnected. In the process of catching up with her, I discovered that she's dating a marine biologist. Well now, I live in a landlocked area of Canada so this guy sounded like a rockstar to me! I pictured a guy who spends half his life on a submarine, swimming in shark cages and discovering new species of marine life. A thrill seeker who battles giant squids with a single harpoon! A guy with a lab where the floor is made of steel grates with a big pool in the middle attached by underground tunnels to the ocean where his pet dolphin can come to say hi. And I mean actually say hi because he's outfitted with a special headset that allows him to speak. Man, that shit is cool! Hell, even PRETENDING to be a marine biologist is cool! Just ask George Costanza!
Of course, the truth is far less glamorous. He breeds shrimp for a living. It's even less magical when you hear my friend describe how to force a shrimp to mate. My image of a marine biologist was shattered. It's sort of like when you hear the word archeologist and you know that in realitly all they're doing is paperwork and occasionally cleaning up some artifact, very carefully. But boy oh boy... you wish they were all like Indiana Jones dodging poison darts while running away from a giant boulder. I feel similarly about being a bus driver. The job isn't very exciting at all, but to some people there is a certain mystique to what I do. Especially kids. Its one of those jobs, like Firefighter, which kids are just obsessed with.
I have 2 very young children who are obsessed with busses. Any time a bus drives by, they have to point it out to me. Even things that aren't busses get pointed out to me as busses. My 3 year old son will call an RV a "camping bus". "Blue bus" "Yellow bus" "Big bus" "Little bus"... doesn't matter. If he sees them in person or on TV or in a picture, he'll tell you about it. My one year old daughter doesn't say nearly as much as he does. She's the strong silent type. But around busses, she follows his lead and squeals and points. "Do you see a bus sweetie?" "Yaaa." I wish I knew what it was about busses that is so magical to kids.
Then came the day that my wife brought my kids on one of my busses for the first time. Blew their minds. Suddenly, I was the coolest guy ever in their little worlds... I was Indiana Jones! Now when daddy left for work, they actually knew that meant I was leaving to go drive a bus. Then one time I actually took them to my work to the "bus house" so they could see where the busses "sleep at night". Well, you would've thought I had taken them to Disneyland. In the garage, I took them onto one of the parked busses. I let them sit in the seat, honk the horn, open and close the doors, turn on the windshield wipers... It made their day. Then we got off the bus and they headed right to the next one in line to do it all over again. We could've probably spent all day checking out all the hundred or so busses that were parked at that time. According to my son it was the "best day ever". Of course in all fairness, he's had several "best days ever" since. Oh well. At least I was their hero for one day.
My kids aren't the only ones who love busses though. I see children all the time who get excited because they get to take a bus ride. Up until a certain age, riding the bus is actually cool. Although, I'm sure that also depends on the circumstances. I also have a teenage son who probably doesn't get excited to ride the bus anymore, unless I'm the one driving. I can drive that kid everywhere in my own car and always get the same angsty teen lack of gratitude, but have him ride my bus and he's a kid again. I even get adult friends of mine who haven't taken the bus for years who want to ride my bus. I guess there's something about knowing the driver that makes it exciting.
This is something else I've noticed when I'm driving. On a few occasions I actually have had friends ride my bus, purely by luck. They will usually stand at the front with me and chat. It's a nice distraction from my day. But you know that they don't do that for any other drivers. Makes a guy feel special... like I'm the rockstar and they're my groupies. Even the one friend I had on my bus one day had just been through knee surgery so she chose to sit... but that didn't stop her being my groupie and chatting with me. My favorite though, is the few occasions where I've had friends bring their children onto my bus. A couple of these, like the time my wife rode my bus, were planned ahead of time. This is where I get to see another side of the kids. The one where they are impressed that their parents know the driver.... by name! It's as if my "celebrity" status on the bus has now rubbed off on my friends and they just became Indiana Jones to their own kids. Well not quite... I'm still Indy. But they get to be Marion or Shortround.
When one of my friends bring their kids on the bus, I try to do something special for them. Sure, no one gets the same VIP treatment that my own kids did, but I will usually let them sit in my seat and push a couple buttons. I remember one friend specifically bring her 8 year old son on my bus. It was his first ride ever on a bus. I made sure to give him swag to take home (nothing major... just a pin and a route map... but still.) I wanted to make his ride as memorable as possible. I particularly enjoyed being able to see the job through fresh eyes from him. He was abundantly curious, asking questions about things that I'VE never even noticed before like "What's in that panel?"
But I'm the same way with most children on my bus. I try to leave an impression on them. No big gestures like I do with friend's kids, but the little things. Stuff like making sure I say hi or bye to them directly or answering their questions. Talking to them if they ask questions. Or letting them dump my fare box. I mentioned in one of my previous blogs that I like letting the money in my fare box pile up for just this reason. (Well that and the joy it brings me to see how full I can get it.) I've been known to start sing alongs with kids on my bus on a couple occasions or join them in their own songs (Let it Go from Frozen is a popular choice.) Or high five a kid as they walk past. But the easiest way to make a kid's day on my bus is by letting them be in charge of the stop request bell. Recently I had 2 little sisters on my bus who were arguing over who would be allowed to ring the bell. Each one claimed that it was their turn. So, I helped the mother sort out this argument my letting them know I would let them each ring the bell. And that's what I did, I let the first girl ring the bell, deactivated it and then let the second one ring it. Made their day. Indiana Jones may have a whip, but I have a stop request bell.
At some point in our lives, this awe wears off and the bus driver is not viewed in as high esteem. That is, unless you know me personally. Often when I meet someone outside of work, when they first find out what I do for a living, their reaction is almost always "oh wow... I could never do that!" For some it's because they feel road rage would get the best of them. For others, its the customer service aspect. Whereas my perspectives on that are "I get paid by the hour" and "I just sit back and enjoy the show.", respectively. I especially appreciate the irony when one of these people who says they couldn't do my job is someone who is professionally trained in theirs. "Oh you're a surgeon? You probably COULD do my job... but I promise I can't do YOURS."
Some people appreciate what I do, some don't. All I know is that my biggest fans are usually the smallest people on my bus, and I'm ok with that. At least to kids, I get to be Indiana Jones and without the threat of having my heart pulled out of my chest by a temple priest. I hope. That's the reason I enjoy taking my own kids to work. Since that first time, I have done it again. Except this time I took them to the garage where we keep our "Heritage Fleet". A sample of all our busses that have been retired. I thought that the only thing better than letting them see busses was letting them see CLASSIC busses. I have to admit, I was mistaken. Although I was fascinated seeing the old busses, it really made no difference to the 3 and 1 year old. Oh well. No matter what, they are still my biggest fans.
Ok... this blog entry is done. You can go watch the marine biologist episode of Seinfeld now, because I'm sure that's what you've been thinking since the first paragraph. I don't blame you. It's a great episode.
From in front of the yellow line, that's how I see it.
My Fans
By Shawn Wells
Recently, I stumbled across a letter from a Hawaiian pen pal I had 20 years ago. Through the wonders of Facebook, I tracked her down and we reconnected. In the process of catching up with her, I discovered that she's dating a marine biologist. Well now, I live in a landlocked area of Canada so this guy sounded like a rockstar to me! I pictured a guy who spends half his life on a submarine, swimming in shark cages and discovering new species of marine life. A thrill seeker who battles giant squids with a single harpoon! A guy with a lab where the floor is made of steel grates with a big pool in the middle attached by underground tunnels to the ocean where his pet dolphin can come to say hi. And I mean actually say hi because he's outfitted with a special headset that allows him to speak. Man, that shit is cool! Hell, even PRETENDING to be a marine biologist is cool! Just ask George Costanza!
Of course, the truth is far less glamorous. He breeds shrimp for a living. It's even less magical when you hear my friend describe how to force a shrimp to mate. My image of a marine biologist was shattered. It's sort of like when you hear the word archeologist and you know that in realitly all they're doing is paperwork and occasionally cleaning up some artifact, very carefully. But boy oh boy... you wish they were all like Indiana Jones dodging poison darts while running away from a giant boulder. I feel similarly about being a bus driver. The job isn't very exciting at all, but to some people there is a certain mystique to what I do. Especially kids. Its one of those jobs, like Firefighter, which kids are just obsessed with.
I have 2 very young children who are obsessed with busses. Any time a bus drives by, they have to point it out to me. Even things that aren't busses get pointed out to me as busses. My 3 year old son will call an RV a "camping bus". "Blue bus" "Yellow bus" "Big bus" "Little bus"... doesn't matter. If he sees them in person or on TV or in a picture, he'll tell you about it. My one year old daughter doesn't say nearly as much as he does. She's the strong silent type. But around busses, she follows his lead and squeals and points. "Do you see a bus sweetie?" "Yaaa." I wish I knew what it was about busses that is so magical to kids.
Then came the day that my wife brought my kids on one of my busses for the first time. Blew their minds. Suddenly, I was the coolest guy ever in their little worlds... I was Indiana Jones! Now when daddy left for work, they actually knew that meant I was leaving to go drive a bus. Then one time I actually took them to my work to the "bus house" so they could see where the busses "sleep at night". Well, you would've thought I had taken them to Disneyland. In the garage, I took them onto one of the parked busses. I let them sit in the seat, honk the horn, open and close the doors, turn on the windshield wipers... It made their day. Then we got off the bus and they headed right to the next one in line to do it all over again. We could've probably spent all day checking out all the hundred or so busses that were parked at that time. According to my son it was the "best day ever". Of course in all fairness, he's had several "best days ever" since. Oh well. At least I was their hero for one day.
My kids aren't the only ones who love busses though. I see children all the time who get excited because they get to take a bus ride. Up until a certain age, riding the bus is actually cool. Although, I'm sure that also depends on the circumstances. I also have a teenage son who probably doesn't get excited to ride the bus anymore, unless I'm the one driving. I can drive that kid everywhere in my own car and always get the same angsty teen lack of gratitude, but have him ride my bus and he's a kid again. I even get adult friends of mine who haven't taken the bus for years who want to ride my bus. I guess there's something about knowing the driver that makes it exciting.
This is something else I've noticed when I'm driving. On a few occasions I actually have had friends ride my bus, purely by luck. They will usually stand at the front with me and chat. It's a nice distraction from my day. But you know that they don't do that for any other drivers. Makes a guy feel special... like I'm the rockstar and they're my groupies. Even the one friend I had on my bus one day had just been through knee surgery so she chose to sit... but that didn't stop her being my groupie and chatting with me. My favorite though, is the few occasions where I've had friends bring their children onto my bus. A couple of these, like the time my wife rode my bus, were planned ahead of time. This is where I get to see another side of the kids. The one where they are impressed that their parents know the driver.... by name! It's as if my "celebrity" status on the bus has now rubbed off on my friends and they just became Indiana Jones to their own kids. Well not quite... I'm still Indy. But they get to be Marion or Shortround.
When one of my friends bring their kids on the bus, I try to do something special for them. Sure, no one gets the same VIP treatment that my own kids did, but I will usually let them sit in my seat and push a couple buttons. I remember one friend specifically bring her 8 year old son on my bus. It was his first ride ever on a bus. I made sure to give him swag to take home (nothing major... just a pin and a route map... but still.) I wanted to make his ride as memorable as possible. I particularly enjoyed being able to see the job through fresh eyes from him. He was abundantly curious, asking questions about things that I'VE never even noticed before like "What's in that panel?"
But I'm the same way with most children on my bus. I try to leave an impression on them. No big gestures like I do with friend's kids, but the little things. Stuff like making sure I say hi or bye to them directly or answering their questions. Talking to them if they ask questions. Or letting them dump my fare box. I mentioned in one of my previous blogs that I like letting the money in my fare box pile up for just this reason. (Well that and the joy it brings me to see how full I can get it.) I've been known to start sing alongs with kids on my bus on a couple occasions or join them in their own songs (Let it Go from Frozen is a popular choice.) Or high five a kid as they walk past. But the easiest way to make a kid's day on my bus is by letting them be in charge of the stop request bell. Recently I had 2 little sisters on my bus who were arguing over who would be allowed to ring the bell. Each one claimed that it was their turn. So, I helped the mother sort out this argument my letting them know I would let them each ring the bell. And that's what I did, I let the first girl ring the bell, deactivated it and then let the second one ring it. Made their day. Indiana Jones may have a whip, but I have a stop request bell.
At some point in our lives, this awe wears off and the bus driver is not viewed in as high esteem. That is, unless you know me personally. Often when I meet someone outside of work, when they first find out what I do for a living, their reaction is almost always "oh wow... I could never do that!" For some it's because they feel road rage would get the best of them. For others, its the customer service aspect. Whereas my perspectives on that are "I get paid by the hour" and "I just sit back and enjoy the show.", respectively. I especially appreciate the irony when one of these people who says they couldn't do my job is someone who is professionally trained in theirs. "Oh you're a surgeon? You probably COULD do my job... but I promise I can't do YOURS."
Some people appreciate what I do, some don't. All I know is that my biggest fans are usually the smallest people on my bus, and I'm ok with that. At least to kids, I get to be Indiana Jones and without the threat of having my heart pulled out of my chest by a temple priest. I hope. That's the reason I enjoy taking my own kids to work. Since that first time, I have done it again. Except this time I took them to the garage where we keep our "Heritage Fleet". A sample of all our busses that have been retired. I thought that the only thing better than letting them see busses was letting them see CLASSIC busses. I have to admit, I was mistaken. Although I was fascinated seeing the old busses, it really made no difference to the 3 and 1 year old. Oh well. No matter what, they are still my biggest fans.
Ok... this blog entry is done. You can go watch the marine biologist episode of Seinfeld now, because I'm sure that's what you've been thinking since the first paragraph. I don't blame you. It's a great episode.
From in front of the yellow line, that's how I see it.
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