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