Slog - Comments on The Mad Driver http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver The doors open, I walk up the steps, pay the fare, and see a surgical mask on the bus driver's face. The number of the bus: 44; the day: July 22; the time: around 10 pm; the location: the UD; the question in my head: Why is the driver wearing a surgical mask? Is there a smelly person on the bus? My nose says no. Has the bird flu finally arrived? My information says no. Is he simply crazy? My reason screams yes! But why is a crazy person driving the bus? Two possibilities: one, a madman killed the real... Copyright 2008 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:43:34 -0800 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:28:50 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Phelix I've ridden with that driver before. He's mostly harmless. ;)

]]> Phelix http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767359 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767359 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:42:37 -0800 Comment by KM Less dramatically... he probably has a diminished immune system and is protecting himself from common air-borne illnesses.

]]> KM http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767362 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767362 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:45:47 -0800 Comment by Josh Feit Flex Car

]]> Josh Feit http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767363 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767363 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:46:29 -0800 Comment by Justy Is this a premonition or did it happen on July 22 at 10pm? Apocalypse to come, perhaps?

]]> Justy http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767365 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767365 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:48:51 -0800 Comment by Cato the Younger Younger I have seen this guy several times in my past 12 years of living in Seattle and riding metro. Totally harmless, just strange is all. But Charles you seem to be a little bit paranoid. You really should open your mind up and be more accepting.

]]> Cato the Younger Younger http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767369 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767369 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:52:32 -0800 Comment by Gitai Um, maybe he has a cold and was trying to be polite and not transmit it to anyone?

]]> Gitai http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767371 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767371 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:54:18 -0800 Comment by roag Why don't you frickin' ask him? You're a reporter, sort of, right? You work for a sort of newspaper, right? But if he told you why he wears the mask and his answer was boring then you wouldn't have a post. Better to play paranoid hipster writer and just imagine ...

]]> roag http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767376 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767376 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:00:58 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe Why didn't you just ask him? Aren't you all about understanding everything? Had you asked, you'd have an answer. Like so, you would not have made this post, where you sound like a total jerk.

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767377 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767377 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:01:20 -0800 Comment by bus driver It doesn't seem like Charles ever confronts anyone directly about his questions...he just writes Slog posts where he doens't really interact with commenters either.

]]> bus driver http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767380 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767380 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:10:30 -0800 Comment by longball I once rode the #8 late at night with this guy and talked to him the whole trip. He was your average old bus driver, bit of a curmugeon (sp?) but friendly. I never had the courage to ask about the mask. There is a lady driver who dons the mask as well.

]]> longball http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767381 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767381 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:13:33 -0800 Comment by Brad Myabe it is because they come into contact with hundreds (thousands?) of people every day and they don't want to contract something nasty, like say, oh, TB? Just a thought...

]]> Brad http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767382 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767382 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:19:40 -0800 Comment by Fnarf If I drove a Metro bus, with the hordes of diseased and insane people getting on and off all day, I'd wear a mask too. It would not surprise me at all to hear that this driver was once sprayed with a syringe or something.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767384 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767384 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:20:50 -0800 Comment by monkey ROFL @ roag #7

"You're a reporter, sort of, right?"

]]> monkey http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767385 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767385 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:24:07 -0800 Comment by cliff rancho calm the fuck down people, maybe...just maybe, Charles was tired (it was a Sunday at 10pm) and just didn't want to deal with any sort of confrontation that may arise from something abnormal.

Just because he's a writer doesn't mean that he needs to investigate every fucking thing.

]]> cliff rancho http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767386 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767386 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:24:10 -0800 Comment by mason I listened in on someone who asked him. He says he is exposed to everyone's colds and flues all day and doesn't want to get sick.

A little over the top, but kinda understandable.

]]> mason http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767388 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767388 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:25:35 -0800 Comment by elswinger I agree with #2.

]]> elswinger http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767391 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767391 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:28:42 -0800 Comment by josh yeah. pretty common in japan for example. not so common in the states but also not such a bad idea for a bus driver. if it had been a full-on gas mask it would have been a different story altogether though i understand not feeling like dealing with the facial tics of the public universe. blepharospasms of the real. next bus was fine, eh?

]]> josh http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767395 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767395 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:37:52 -0800 Comment by kate also, people wear surical masks in public in other countries with bad polution in order to reduce the effect of allergies.

]]> kate http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767398 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767398 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:39:00 -0800 Comment by Justy @9...looks like the date has been corrected so Charles (or an editor?) must at least read the comments.

]]> Justy http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767405 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767405 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:56:57 -0800 Comment by microveldt Could be allergy or hay fever related. I have been getting slammed by hay fever off and on through July.

]]> microveldt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767418 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767418 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:30:20 -0800 Comment by homage to me Better a surgical mask than an eye patch.

]]> homage to me http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767420 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767420 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:32:09 -0800 Comment by Matthew Worst "Last Days" hot tipper ever.

]]> Matthew http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767515 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767515 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:30:25 -0800 Comment by Dougsf Some cultures consider it extremely impolite to be sick in public. In some of SF's Chinese neighborhoods, you see a lot of people wearing surgical masks because of this.

More likely though, it's the drivers reaction to "I feel a cold coming on", or a weakened immune system, as was mentioned already.

]]> Dougsf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767563 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767563 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:18:08 -0800 Comment by Geni Gee, I dunno, maybe he's tired of having people get on the bus, sneeze on him, and make him sick enough to miss work, so that he gets threatened with loss of his job?

Maybe he's had transplant surgery and is on immunosuppressant drugs and doesn't want to risk catching cooties.

Maybe he has AIDS, is immunosuppressed, and will die if he catches flu.

Maybe he likes yanking the chain of paranoid, freakishly passive-aggressive passengers who can't deal with anything remotely outside their "normal" experience.

None of those are your business. If he drives competently, that is your only concern.

Oh, and I've been riding Metro Transit and its predecessor here since the early 1960s. They've ALWAYS hired crazy people as drivers. Crazy people actually do better over the long term.

]]> Geni http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767582 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767582 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:32:45 -0800 Comment by Gomez Yeah, Charles, the actual solution to your dilemma here would be to say, "Say, why are you wearing a mask?"

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767656 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767656 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:56:30 -0800 Comment by Gomez Also, to further what Geni said, crazy people a) are willing to do a fucked up job like haul dozens of assholes between neighborhoods and b) probably won't get offered better jobs and quit on them.

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767659 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767659 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:58:43 -0800 Comment by ka-chunk Charles, don't travel to Japan. I don't think you're mentally well enough.

]]> ka-chunk http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767751 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/mad_driver#c767751 City Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:28:50 -0800