If you keep making that face it'll stick like that

I was riding the bus back to my friend's apartment one night. I was sitting so I was looking backwards, and a young man was sitting about halfway back, facing forward. We made eye contact and he looked interesting so I thought about moving so I could talk to him, but didn't. The next time we locked eyes he made a weird face at me, so I made one back. We kept doing this for about fifteen minutes, then he came up to the front of the bus and introduced himself. I asked him if he wanted to sit down, but he said he couldn't because he had to get off the bus. I didn't think anything of it, then a few weeks later we ran into each other in a store where I happened to remember his name. We talked, exchanged numbers, and now we're friends.

Lauren, Student

September Bus Blog

Thanks for my half price September and October bus passes, Sustainability Team!  They are *much* appreciated!

 

 

You Have To Be This Tall To Ride

One Monday morning in early September I stepped on a pretty empty bus to ride to work.  There was a slightly smiling man in a suit and tie in one of the first rows on the left and a group of three small boys next to him on the right, a few young people closer to the back.  I took a seat behind the three boys and admired their matching lunch pails and tiny hoodies and skate shoes.  They appeared to be brothers – all three freckled with hair ranging from red to strawberry blond.  They were very quiet, glancing at each other frequently but not saying anything.  Every so often the oldest would nod to the younger two in response to some unspoken question.  I looked over at the well-dressed man I assumed to be their father.  He didn’t seem to be paying any attention to them.  As we headed up the street, the oldest boy reached a tentative hand up to the stop cord, the other two looking on nervously, then put it back down.  At each stop, they worried silently with quick moving glances.  The man near them didn’t seem to notice.  I started wondering if they were by themselves.  Once we neared the next turn, the oldest pulled the cord and the three boys, looking around furtively but not saying a word, started to step off.  It was clear by now that they were by themselves.  They stepped off at the corner and stood at the stop, where no bus would meet them until the next bus on the same route, headed the same direction, would arrive a half hour later.  I wondered why they weren’t at school by that time of morning and why they were riding the city bus alone. Wondered how young you had to be before the bus driver questioned you.  I wanted to follow them off the bus and ask them if they were ok.  They looked unsure and worried.  I wondered if one of us, riders or bus driver, should have checked in with them.  I know kids today have such intense stranger danger-fear instilled in them by their parents - I didn’t want to freak them out.  I thought about them a lot that day and hoped they reached their destination safely.  Hoped they weren’t trying to run away from home bus by bus with all of Pierce Transit as unmoving witnesses.  Hoped if they were trying to run away from home with good reason that they reached Grandma’s house without meeting the wolf.

 

The Singing Bus Driver

There is a 16 bus driver who sings the upcoming stops in a fine, robust tenor.  It makes for a happy ride. 

Please, if you happen to ride his bus, don’t just say thank you – sing it.  It will show him his positive attitude is appreciated.

 

Leah

Leah Coakley

Administrative Specialist

Office of the Chief Diversity Officer

Access Programs

University of Puget Sound

Howarth 215B

253.879.2827

 

Start 'em young

As with most human behavior, people's comfort level with riding the bus seems to depend on prior experience and habit.  If riding the bus is a natural thing for you, the sometimes odd but nearly always harmless behavior of some of your fellow passengers rarely fazes you.  For this reason, I've gone out of my way to introduce my young son to the bus.  We ride fairly frequently to places around town here in Olympia, most often (but not always) if his mother is using the car.

For example, a few weeks ago we were headed out one weekend to our local Children's Museum, a favorite haunt, and I decided it'd be a good day to take the bus downtown.  We caught our bus a few blocks from home without incident (the woman sitting at the curb near our stop complaining about how the last driver had refused to let her on without paying notwithstanding) and made a smooth connection at the transit center.... about a 20 min ride altogether.

On the way home we caught our first bus after a short wait and headed for the transit center.  Now, my son likes to sit near the window on the bus.  He loves being up high and being able to see everything.  Usually this is fine but can present some issues when the bus is at all crowded (which these days is much of the time as anyone riding the bus will have noticed).  We reach the transit center and I point out our connection.  Suddenly, my son bolts for it at top speed and before I can catch up he's on the bus and headed to the back.  I step onto the bus just in time to see my little bull clambering over the lap of a large, gruff-looking, somewhat unkempt about 250 lb dude with a bushy grey beard in the back seat so he can get to the rear window seat.  Thankfully, this guy didn't seemed bothered and took it in stride and I managed to coax my son to sit next to me at a different window seat, albeit with our backs to the window. 

At the end of the day, we had a great trip to the museum and he's getting used to the idea that riding the bus makes sense, even in a city made for cars.  I imagine by the time he's my age, that may change (gas prices, global warming, all point to more dense living where transit makes sense).

Garrett, Staff

Bus Buddies

I have been riding the bus for about a year. In the beginning, I was terrified! Is this the bus I get on? Who can I ask? Am I outbound or inbound? What if the bus is late? Why is that crazy woman yelling at me and telling everyone I’m her daughter? I’ve never seen her before in my life! Luckily, I found that there is a whole culture and community when riding the bus. I have definitely had my share of frustrations when riding, but to smooth out those rough days, I have my bus buddies.

 

It took time for my relationship to develop with my bus buddies. There is a small group of Loggers that rides the 16 each day and one woman I recognized from my time as a student. She’s very popular and knows pretty much everyone on campus. I’m staff now, so I should be bold and strike up conversation with her, right? I mean, we’re all staff, there’s no reason to be shy! It took about 14 bus trips with the lady, Jane, before I was confident enough to speak to her, but after that, we were fast friends. Through her, I met Zac, my other bus buddy. The two of them are absolutely wonderful and have made my time on the bus much too short. I’m always a little bit sad when we pass 15^th and Oakes because I know that soon it will be time to get off and we will part for the day.

While riding, we talk about the bus drivers and schedules, as well as work and family. It makes me sad to think that I might never have had the opportunity to get to know them, if it hadn’t been for the bus. Our friendship has moved beyond the bus too. We’ve gone out for dinner and drinks and have met each other’s partners and friends. There’s always a giggle over how we met. “We’re bus buddies!” we proudly shout.

 

 It’s always a joy to bump into each other on campus. There’s a throwing up of our arms in the air and a hollering of, “BUS BUDDY!” as we rush towards each other. People stare. It’s okay. You’ll understand, someday.

 

Amy, Staff Member