Just before passing these bike cops (they’re heading to the fair by the sea)…
…I disembarked the 7 bus near the corner of 12th and Jackson. Two stops before my stop, a woman almost missed this bus. With a yell of desperation, she appeared from nowhere and ran toward the main door, which was closing. The bus began to move… then stopped. Realizing the bus was now waiting for her, the woman stopped running and began walking toward the door. And here I spotted a problem: She should not have stopped running. Why? Because running and walking had the same meaning in this situation: the running was for her, and the walking was for her. But to run all the way to the door would’ve meant two different things: the first part for her; but once the bus stopped and waited, the second part for the passengers and the driver. To run and walk in this situation is to be all about yourself.
Bus drivers shouldn’t wait for runners, delaying everyone else on the bus for one person. (I’d make exceptions on those rare occasions when the bus is ahead of schedule, and perhaps the last bus of the day.)
I thought Mr Mudede sounded like a dick in his post but @1 is an even bigger dick.
I totally agree. I was once on a bus that was already 12 minutes late and the driver waited for somebody across the street who had to wait for the light to change. I was pissed.
Unless the woman was wearing running shoes, there’s a reason she slowed to a walk.
Just about any woman’s shoe — from flats and heels to flip flops — are more difficult than just about any man’s shoe to run in — and often walk in — for any distance.
That’s the reason I slowed to a walk after the bus stopped.
Bravo.
In a single paragraph you have described all the Strum und Drang of entitlement.
I beg you for this good or service because I need it.
But if offered, I become haughty and claim my right to it — just like everyone else!
@4 If you are the one being referenced, then you were being selfish.
I wear high heels on a regular basis, and if I see my bus coming when I’m a distance from the stop, I run full out. No stopping or slowing if the bus is kind enough to wait for me.
If you could run to indicate you needed the bus, you could run to be considerate to every other passenger on that bus.
Charles
There are people in this world who are all about being in it for themselves
This is why money is such a dangerous idea.
@1 – Please don’t take a job as a bus driver. Metro has enough jerks as it is.
you can run in heels or flats, just run on your toes, it’s a sprint, not a marathon.
a public spirited sprint
The bus driver should have driven away as soon as she slowed down. What an inconsiderate cow, and an inept driver to boot.
@2 sounds butthurt over having to miss the bus.
@4: if your shoes are not comfortable enough for you to move around in, you need to find more comfortable shoes. Making the blanket excuse that all women’s shoes are uncomfortable is just laziness.
Some people on that bus probably need to connect with a transfer bus up the road and if they’re late because somebody walks instead of runs, they don’t make the second bus. That doesn’t make the bus driver a jerk; it makes the walker-intead-of-runner a jerk.
This guy at my bus stop in Tucson used to make everyone wait while he got a few extra seconds of grab-ass, grinding, slobbery, clothed-sex with his underage girlfriend (who had walked him to the stop). Seriously, we were all sitting down already and they were still going at it- note: they had been making out for 20 minutes already, anyway. One day, the bus driver got sick of waiting, slammed the doors, and took off. We all cheered and hooted.
@4, why do the other bus riders have to make accomodations for your sinful lifestyle choice? (Valuing fashion and conforming over utility and podiatric health? Augustine would agree that’s disordered love.) But seriously, suck it up and fucking run. @6 is right, if you could run when you needed to, you can run to show consideration for others.
I was on the 7 today too, right around there (Rainier and Dearborn) and a lady walked and then ran for the bus. How you feel about this situation may depend on whether you know that she was at least eighty years old, and was crossing Rainier in the middle of the block. Sometimes waiting for someone who’s making an effort but just can’t crank it any harder isn’t something to criticize.
Every time you refuse to let a bus merge, or take advantage of a bus at a stop sign, you are saying that your time is worth more than dozens or even a hundred peoples’ time put together. That’s the same attitude this passenger had*. But she had to sit next to the people she felt so superior to.
Oh, and this also applies to standers on long narrow escalators. What, these fancy moving stairs are so much harder to walk up than regular ones? There was an elevator you passed on your way. Using it would have saved the 15 people behind you some time.
* Yes, short of having high heels, a bad heart, rocks in her shoe, and gout. Or what ever other reason people are claiming she suddenly couldn’t run at the exact moment the bus started waiting for her.
Reminds me of that scene in “Tree of life” …….
Wow, 18 thanks for the hilarious comment.
I’m with fnarf, the circumstances can widely differ.
Being a driver in this towns gotta be a tough ass job esp those routes like 7, 14. I used to ride the 14 late night and witness some pretty bad behavior directed at the driver who took things so calmly like when someone spit in their face as they disembarked…
+1 @17
running in heels (or in flip flops, or clogs) is a recipe for a twisted, sprained ankle, or worse.
By the way, I was running and then walking for a bus that passed my bus stop by, and only pulled over 1/2 block away when the driver finally noticed I was running after it.
I have to wear open back shoes (clogs, flip flops) running in either — or most women’s shoes — is a recipe for foot/leg injuries.
If buses came by every 5 minutes, it would be one thing, but the buses in my neighborhood usually run every half hour. Bad enough having to wait a half hour in the bitter cold/pouring rain, but for an hour, yeah I’d run for a bus.
And then walk after it stopped.
Just scream:
“Wait, I’m entitled to that bus!”
This is so true. Same goes for the person who runs/walks through a crosswalk.
You might be interested to know that Fnarf can run to the bus in stilettos.
@17: The next time you get stuck behind someone standing on an escalator, there’s a handy phrase to get them to move out of your oh-so-important way. “Excuse me.”
@21: Then a good solution would be to wear actual shoes while on your commute, and change into the shoes you “have” to wear as soon as you get to where you “have” to wear them, not hold up dozens of other people because you just “had” to wear retarded footwear.
@ 17,
Couldn’t agree more w/ regard to merging with buses in traffic. On occasion, I’ll be tempted to slide in ahead of them, but always try to recognize the potential implications of what I’m doing.
Couldn’t disagree more regarding the escalators. The thing is moving at a more than reasonable pace, do yourself a favor, take a load off for a few seconds and let the functioning gears and belt-drive mechanisms get you upstairs. Escalators are far more efficient than elevators, which as a responsible traveller, I choose not to use unless it’s necessitated by other circumstances. I’ll somewhat reluctantly allow for a two-lane escalator system — one for walkers, one for standers (and it may be worth mentioning that I’m a fit, 140 lb cyclist. Given obesity rates in the country, the majority of department store patrons would probably be best served just taking the freaking stairs, though that’s obviously another can of worms.)
At 3 and 6 you guys are fucking stupid.
When a bus stars slowing down that doesn’t mean you can automatically get on. The bus has to fully stop, then open the door, something Mudede gracefully missed. So to compensate for that time one may walk a few fucking steps. Suck my cock.
And moreover, the reactions everyone is having to this is ridiculous.
Everyone who posts on these blogs hears a story that has absolutely no context and then take some extreme stance where at least someone HAS to be an asshole. Well I have news for all you. WE ARE ALL ASSHOLES. Everyone does something that fucks with other peoples lives without knowing it so grow up. And yeah if I was mature I probably wouldn’t post this, duh.
@8
I am a bus driver, and you’re the jerk. There’s a word to describe what happens when you’re not at the bus stop as the bus leaves: “You missed the bus”. The cure isn’t demanding that bus drivers stop and wait for your lame ass – it’s for you to buy a fucking watch.
@10,
The bus driver wasn’t inept – probably just wanting to avoid a conversation with their boss. When people call in complaints – no matter how ridiculous – we get called in to talk to a supervisor to “explain ourselves”. Sometimes putting up with stupid customers is less trouble than putting up with their stupid complaints.
@16,
A bus is not a taxi. They run on a schedule (or try to). Nobody should be rewarded for jaywalking across a busy street (dangerous as hell) to catch a bus. Particularly with the 7, another bus will be along shortly.