Juggling the ‘cakes
Okay- so the other day I hopped on the 4 in the morning on my way in to work. I had a pair of cute tall black boots on that have a fairly high heel. I was bringing in some cupcakes to work that day- so I had the pan of ‘cakes in one hand and my wallet with my bus pass in the other hand.
Generally speaking- most bus drivers will wait to move on until you are seated or at least will give a cautionary, “you ok if I go ahead?” type warning. Such is not the case with this driver. As soon as my bus pass popped back up from the fairbox he gunned it. Juggling the ‘cakes and my purse/wallet/buss pass I stumbled forward, and because I had no hands free- basically landed in the lap of some unfortunate soul.
What frustrated me in this situation?
1) the person I fell into was NOT happy with me
2) the bus driver made no apology
3) all those around me acted as if they didn’t see it or try to help
Oh well- I saved the cupcakes and had a good laugh by myself once seated comfortably (and safely) in a seat.
Nov 5th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
That wouldn’t happen to have been the 4F southbound that hits Lake Street just after 7:00? Because that driver is TRYING to make people take a header in the aisle! It’s hard just getting into a seat some mornings, even without full hands.
Nov 5th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
I take the 11 in the morning and have never had a driver wait for me to sit before gunning it!
Nov 6th, 2007 at 8:33 am
The guy who drives 14A in the afternoons that hits HCMC a little after 3:30 does just the opposite. He slams on the brakes at every stop, seemingly in attempt to make anyone standing or making their way to the door fly into the windshield. One day a lady called him on it and he denied, denied, denied… but wouldn’t look her or anyone else in the eye. That’s why I started driving to the train station instead. Screw that noise.
Nov 13th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
I worked for a different transit agency, first as a driver, then as a training assistant. As a matter of policy, everyone was supposed to be seated or securely grabbing a handrail before leaving a stop.
Now, we weren’t under as much time pressure as the Metro drivers. However, common sense would suggest noticing that a passenger has a full load and can’t grab a rail to balance himself or herself and waiting in that instance. It would be helpful if passengers would find a seat as quickly as possible, but it does take a little bit of time in any case.
Feb 25th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Normally it seems it’s just the opposite. People take 10 minutes to pay. We sit through a cycle of 2 green lights, then when the passenger finally scrounges up the money they should have had ready the driver finally leaves.