ON HER SOAP BOX

So, WHAT AM I PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS WEEK?...

...RUDE BUS DRIVERS!

Yep, that's right! Rude bus drivers! And yes, I take public transportation!

Hey, it's cheaper than owning a car in THIS city! Although, it costs me more time than driving and I have limited access to places I want to go, still I save a bundle of money! No car insurance to purchase (In an urban city like Detroit, insurance rates can be 3 times HIGHER than that of suburbanites!) No license plate and tags! No up and down gas prices to hurt over. No oil, anti-freeze to purchase along with all of the other expensive care and maintenance that comes along with owning a vehicle!

Now, where was I? Ah Yes! the bus drivers. You know, IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE PUBLIC SERVICE, you should really consider getting a new gig. BELIEVE ME, it probably will be all for the better! Dealing with the public IS NOT an easy thing to do. Especially if you have ongoing issues of your own AND you BRING THEM TO WORK WITH YOU! It's not fair, nor right that you come to work with YOUR issues on your sleeve! While your job is still a job, like all of the other millions of employed people around the world, it is no less stressful than most public service jobs. You RUDE BUS DRIVERS, still have to be held accountable for what you do, what you say, how you treat people! YOUR JOB is dependent on the people that you are servicing!

RESPECT the PUBLIC!

We thank you, but WE DIDN'T ASK YOU TO TAKE THE JOB YOU HAVE!

So, feel free to GET OUT of it if you can't handle it! It's too many people, nice people, who are out of work and are qualified to do what you do! Respect the strangers that are in your presence. It's only for a little while! While it is true that you MAY NOT WANT to see many of your riders ever again, in many cases, YOU ARE NEVER going to see those particular riders ever again anyway! So, deal with it just for a little while. Remember, YOUR JOB is dependent also on your behavior, just like the rest of us!

In any case, in my many years of riding the bus, I have been both on the receiving end of "bus Driver abuse" and been an unfortunate witness to others enduring such problems. I've seen and heard Bus Drivers verbally abuse passengers. (Please note, sometimes you have to defend yourself, but that's not what I'm talking about!) A few years ago, I was riding a bus to one of the local malls and a lady got on and she said something the bus driver did not like. I admit, perhaps she was intoxicated and running off with the mouth, but she soon stopped, got quiet and went and took her seat. The bus driver however, still irate about the incident pulled the bus over and put it in park. He then left his seat, armed with a video camera proceeded towards the lady at the back of this crowded bus as he began to taunt her. He called her names, like crazy, you so in so (curse words). He bad mouthed her hair (she had on a wig), all the while video taping this woman?

She just sat there crying. No one really came to her aid at first! Then some guy, told the bus driver to go on back up to the front and drive the bus. He asked him "can't you see she's just sitting there quiet now, trying to get to her stop (destination). You didn't even have to come back here and do what you did". Someone else said to the driver, "You talking about her, what is wrong with YOU? YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE SOME ISSUES TOO! The ironic thing is, as I still take public transportation most days, I recall still seeing that bus driver driving the bus for city residents! I even think he was on the same route as he was back then.

NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE!

I just refuse to believe that someone working with this guy in the transportation department did not know what this guy is really like! Surely, his boss, a co-worker, someone that has come into contact with that guy, considering all of the years that he has been serving the city's public, could attest to some dysfunction!! COME ON PEOPLE!

I'm not for getting people in trouble, but THAT WAS OVER THE TOP the way he treated that woman! While it is true, that on most days when I AND my son have ridden public bus transportation, the rides are usually uneventful. Still, there are some out bursts! Outbursts that are directed towards a passenger in which case the driver is at fault.

Take Wednesday September 2, 2009 for example.

I was on the second bus of my daily, early morning commute, heading toward work. After riding for about 35 out of the 45 minutes it takes for me to get to my stop...the bus driver stops the bus! No one was getting on or off, He just pulls over in the parking lot (we were at a mall)

and he just stops the bus!

The thing is....it was early morning, people were going to jobs, appointments, the bus was full with almost every seat occupied and the driver just let us sit there without any word! He didn't have the professionalism nor common courtesy, not to mention lacking the decency, to tell us what was going on! So, we sat there! It turned out to be only for a short while, but at the time, we didn't know how long the layover would be. Nor did any of the passengers know what was going on! Many of us were getting antsy, including myself! I was already running late for work! I was REALLY fighting to be patient.

Anyway, a lady in the back of the bus was talking to someone and sounding worried about making her appointment. She asked the person what was wrong? Of curse he didn't know. So, she goes past me, up to the driver and politely asked, "Is something wrong?"

The bus driver then gruffly asks her "why are you asking me that". She said, "because the bus is stopped and it concerns me, so I was wondering what was wrong." The bus driver then raised his voice, said "the bus is breaking down!" He proceeded to talk to her gruffly and she basically told the bus driver that he could have let us know before he pulled away from the connect spot at the mall, to give the passengers an option to get off and make a connect with another bus. She didn't understand why the driver did not tell us this news before he pulled away from the connector point at the mall. She was trying tot let him know that by not informing us, and driving away from the connect point, that he had taken our "options" away!

Whereby, if he had told us, we could of had the opportunity to change our route plans to get where we were going in a more timely manner.

He cursed her out, literally! He used the S--- word.

She had already gone back to her seat and he was still cussing! He told her she could get off and get a cab, do whatever but leave him alone! He said, "The bus is broke down! What you want me to do, pick up the bus and fly with it!" Ooh boy, he was just carrying on!

Terrible! Just terrible! What's even more terrible tome, is that though the bus was full and most of the passengers were men...NONE OF THE MEN came to her rescue!! All of them just let that driver disrespect that woman. I felt so bad for her! So, I wrote the bus number down along with the time and route of the bus. I later called and reported that driver with his department.

IF YOU THINK THAT IS BAD? Get this!

The agent on the phone at the transportation department, told me that I had to be the party involved in order to make the report! WHAT? WHAT? Oh my! Now you can't even report when you see an injustice being done! WOWWWWWWW!

Of course, I was not going to settle for that! I told that lady as nice as I could, that that lady could have just as easily been me! I told her that the lady got off at the same stop I did and how upset she was. She looked like she was about to cry! I proceeded to tell the agent what I witnessed. I told her how that bus Driver ranted for almost 10 minutes at that lady while we just sat there in the parking lot, waiting without regard to us as the passengers! That guy made a jack ass out of himself, but he hurt that woman in the process because he was too IMMATURE to (handle the situations in his life more appropriately). That's right, I said it! That woman was not the cause of his problems. He just took his problem out on her! SHAME! SHAME!

To end, I'll ask you this question Dear Reader...

What will YOU DO when you see an injustice being done towards SOMEONE ELSE?

I'M NOT ASKING what have you done! I'm asking, WHAT WILL you do? Though you may not be a bus rider, this could happen in any atmosphere you find yourself in, IE.

Something could happen in a restaurant, bowling alley, movie theater, the grocery store line, the hospital, out on the sidewalk in a crowded public venue, etc. WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Because injustices happen every day!

Click on the comment section at the bottom of this column and let me know.