Slog - Comments on I, Anonymous: It's Elementary—The Morning After http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140 As regular Slog readers are aware, last Friday brought the I, Anonymous: It's Elementary day-long bonanza, wherein a new I, Anonymous submission sent in by students at a local alternative elementary and middle school was revealed every hour on the hour. One of my favorite submissions kicked off with "a shout-out to all of the idiots who hire other idiots to work for their trucking and bussing businesses," followed by the anonymous writer's account of a jerky Metro driver who refused to stop for an old lady who wanted on the bus. Yesterday I found this reply in the post's... Copyright 2008 Mon, 02 Jul 2007 09:45:16 -0800 Mon, 02 Jul 2007 22:57:19 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Fnarf The driver is forbidden by law to take the time it takes to deploy the ramp into consideration. Riders who need the ramp must be treated exactly the same in every respect as riders who do not.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756123 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756123 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 09:59:12 -0800 Comment by Matt from Denver "Comporable."

]]> Matt from Denver http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756130 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756130 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:02:58 -0800 Comment by tsm She wanted the handicapped ramp? ECB approves, no doubt.

]]> tsm http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756134 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756134 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:10:00 -0800 Comment by giantladysquirrels fnarf, it appears the bus driver was following a policy that wouldn't allow anyone, handicapped or no, on the bus when it's not in a proper loading zone. The fact that deploying the handicapped ramp would have been even MORE unsafe than just opening the door is just an (accurate) observation.

]]> giantladysquirrels http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756140 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756140 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:17:09 -0800 Comment by Bellevue Ave i love how stilleto told the bus driver not be late in the other thread, like that was a valid and feasible point.

]]> Bellevue Ave http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756154 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756154 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:38:48 -0800 Comment by elswinger I can understand if the bus was late, but it doesn't excuse the times that buses arrive before they're supposed to. I have gotten to bus stops as early as 10 minutes before they're supposed to arrive, only to have to wait 40 minutes for the next bus, because the driver blew past my stop and probably wound up sitting at a stop further up the line until the schedule caught up to him/her.

]]> elswinger http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756155 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756155 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:42:31 -0800 Comment by Matt from Denver @ 6, no kidding. I was fortunate enough to live at a timepoint on the 21's line when I first moved to Seattle so that didn't happen to me, but the operators would drive like hell then wait one stop prior to the next timepoint so they wouldn't be officially ahead of schedule. I never understood the point of that.

]]> Matt from Denver http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756158 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756158 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:45:57 -0800 Comment by kinaidos I'm all for being draconian about pulling away from stops and not looking back. First the look of anger, surprise and exhaustion from the person who's just been rejected makes for a nice little boost in the morning. Second, add one runner and the extra wait at every stop and you have a run that is 10 minutes late by the time I get off.
So here's to all the metro drivers that are merciless when it comes to late arrivals.
I'd also like to see the beepy-ramps go. There aren't that many crippled folk and they could use those cute little van-bus things. The bus system will never be reliable if any given bus can end up 15 minutes late because of having to deploy the ramp.

]]> kinaidos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756159 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756159 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:46:01 -0800 Comment by Christin "I'd also like to see the beepy-ramps go. There aren't that many crippled folk and they could use those cute little van-bus things."

Wow.

...Did I mention "wow"?

]]> Christin http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756166 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756166 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:53:05 -0800 Comment by BD D.S.-Among other things, it’s interesting to note that professional bus drivers have compositional skills comparable to those of alternative middle-schoolers,


Yes...it's "interesting", isn't it, David?

]]> BD http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756169 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756169 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:58:12 -0800 Comment by greg "I'd also like to see the beepy-ramps go. There aren't that many crippled folk and they could use those cute little van-bus things."

is that a David Brent quote or something? jesus.....

]]> greg http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756175 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756175 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:07:24 -0800 Comment by elswinger #8 Why don't you ride one of those "cute little van-bus things"? (They're called Access, by the way).

I had to ride Access for the four years I was on dialysis and I can tell you those "cute little van-bus things" suck.

First of all, they are driven mostly by people who couldn't get jobs driving the real buses, and who drive without regard to the people riding in the back. Everyone knows how the streets in Seattle suck ass, now imagine riding around in the back of what is essentially a flat bed truck with walls you can smack into, in pain from whatever malady you suffer. I've had drivers slam into curbs, catch air while speeding down Lake City Way, I even had a driver who forgot to put on the parking brake, and when the bus started to roll, she slammed on the gas instead of the brake and we crashed into two parked cars.

Second, there isn't exactly a schedule. Sure, you have to call 24 hours in advance, but if you aren't waiting for them on the curb, they only have to hang around for five minutes before they can just drive away and call you a "No Show." Three no shows and you can lose your Access privileges. But there is no penalty for them being late. Several times I had to wait on the street for as much as two hours before my "pre-scheduled" ride arrived. This cut into the time I should have been on dialysis.

(FYI-There are also same day "will call" rides, but it can take several hours before they get around to picking you up, and there are no guaranties.

]]> elswinger http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756176 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756176 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:13:10 -0800 Comment by keshmeshi @12,

Aha! So I'm not crazy. I swore that Access drivers were more likely than most to try to mow me down as I cross the street. It seems that I was correct.

]]> keshmeshi http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756178 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756178 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:17:30 -0800 Comment by elswinger You are correct. Even Metro drivers hate (and fear) Access drivers.

]]> elswinger http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756208 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756208 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:52:56 -0800 Comment by carlos Sounds like they should just pay for cabs instead of Access. At least then you could pick your own cab company.

As for the ethics of bus driving, consult this great book of short stories:

"Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God"

http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-0312339259-0

]]> carlos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756221 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756221 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:05:47 -0800 Comment by carlos Sounds like they (Metro) should just pay for cabs instead of Access. At least then you could pick your own cab company.

As for the ethics of bus driving, consult this great book of short stories:

"Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God"

http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-0312339259-0

]]> carlos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756222 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756222 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:06:10 -0800 Comment by elswinger I agree Carlos. The Access buses are necessary for all the wheel chair bound people in Seattle (and there are a lot of them). But people who are ambulatory like me can ride the bus or a cab fairly easily.

I say fairly because, though it was easy for me to get to my 5:30pm dialysis appointment at 145th & Lake City Way by taking the bus from the UW, taking a bus to my apartment in Wallingford was unsafe, if not impossible.

I would get off dialysis around 10pm and it would take at least an hour by Access to get home (it would take two hours to go home by bus). The few times I took a cab took less than 10 minutes.

]]> elswinger http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756248 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756248 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:29:11 -0800 Comment by Dougsf I usually like Schmader's contributions to the paper, but a journalist ragging on the writing skills of a bus driver is SO FUCKING SNARKY SEATTLE I can't deal with it.

I'm gonna have to side with the bus driver on this one.

]]> Dougsf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756284 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756284 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:05:11 -0800 Comment by jamier I agree with Dougsf. That was kind of asshole, especially since the bus driver wrote clearly and made perfect sense. Normal people don't care about The Elements of Style unless you're writing a newspaper.

]]> jamier http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756319 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756319 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:48:40 -0800 Comment by David Schmader Re: 18 & 19: I didn't mean that as "ragging" on the writing skills of the bus driver, or conflating the writing skills of middle-schoolers. I was just making an observation, that obviously came off snarkier than I intended.

]]> David Schmader http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756359 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756359 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:27:51 -0800 Comment by Weren't you supposed to be quitting? Bad idea, schmader. The crack about writing skills came off as elitist. My morning bus driver has a four-year college degree and has been driving for Metro 35 years.

]]> Weren't you supposed to be quitting? http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756619 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756619 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 18:33:09 -0800 Comment by Big Sven That bus driver sounds like a 100% dick. I don't give a fuck if he took Film Criticism class at UW with Chuck Mudede.

Don't blow off little old ladies. Who cares if it makes a couple of people a little late? IT'S THE BUS. If they need to be there precisely at 10:00 and they get there at 10:02, they should have given themselves more time or taken a fucking cab.

I rode the bus many, many times as part of bike/busing. 75% of the bus drivers didn't stop at the actual bus stop, and then gave me the stink eye when I had the audacity to actually use the bike rack on the front of their bus.

Yay, David. Boo, hypersensitives.

]]> Big Sven http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756702 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/post_140#c756702 Life Mon, 02 Jul 2007 22:57:19 -0800