Riding public transit in the Wenatchee Valley is usually pretty uneventful. The drivers are super nice, routes are usually on time (except in the winter), and the stations and busses are clean and safe.
I had a bus driver, let’s call him “Delano”, who wasn’t exactly friendly or very helpful.
Delano became our regular bus driver to Waterville. Waterville is a long-distance rural route from Wenatchee. You couldn’t hardly get a word out of Delano. He said “hello” or “good morning” when you said the same to him, and that was it. No smile either.
There was a girl who usually got on our bus when we reached the city. She got on every day, at the same spot and at the same time. She was a regular rider, along with the rest of us.
She forgot her bus pass one day. When Delano opened the bus door, she said: “I forgot my pass today.” Delano said: “No pass, no bus!”, shut the door, and began to drive off. Another passenger shouted: “Stop! I’ll pay for her to ride”, but Delano kept driving.
All of us were in shock.
We wrote our complaints to the city transit administrators. We knew Delano wasn’t in “the wrong”, but his actions were not very professional or humane; especially considering that he knew the girl did have a pass.
Quite a bit of time passed. I needed to take the bus to the hospital to visit a family member. The yearly route change had just occurred, and I knew that the hospital route had made a significant change.
I got on the bus, and guess who was driving?
“Shit!” was all that went through my mind. We took off at the scheduled time, and I knew we were getting closer. I tried my best to make sense of the new map, but it wasn’t happening. So, I took a deep breath and said: “Delano, could you let me know when we get to the bus stop nearest to the hospital?”
He replied: “Yes. Yes I can.”
And he did. He pulled right over at the stop for me. I didn’t even have to pull the stop string and make the bus produce that annoying “ding” sound.
I file this memory under: “Moments when I thought I was going to die, but things turned out alright.”
Delano, I suspect, may have gone to happy camp, making all the difference.
