BOGUS CUSTOMER COMPLAINT

I had this early 20-something girl get on my bus last week. She sat way in the back seat and talked loudly on her cell phone. She began to use quite a bit of profanity, so I felt obligated to say something for the sake of the rest of the passengers. I got on the microphone and made a general announcement to the effect of "We don't mind you using cell phones on the bus, but cussing is not allowed and will not be tolerated."

She seemed to quiet down for a while, but then the cussing started again. I pulled into a bus stop and told her this was her stop, she'd have to get off the bus. She gave a fake "sorry" and I told her my line that I seem to be making famous..."This is not baseball, you do not get three strikes. You need to get off the bus or the transit police will come and take you off." She then stated she had to get to work. I told her then she should have listened the first time I told her to stop cussing. She'd have to get off the bus.

She stormed to the front of the bus. I was thinking I should have snuck my pepper spray out. She seemed angry and not very reasonable. I don't like to pull it out unless I am going to use it. Even then, I like to do it discreetly so it is not taken as a threat. The element of surprise is helpful, too! As it turns out, she just wanted to get a good look at my driver number and inform me that she was going to call in and complain. I told her to feel free to call in. I hadn't done anything wrong, she did.

After she got off the bus, I immediately called the Control Center to let them know about the situation and to ask them to record the time in case she called in. That would make it easier to find on the video. They said they would and told me to fill out an incident report. Bummer. That's like half an hour of paperwork. I wasn't happy about it, but I did as they requested.

A couple days later I got a note from the dispatcher just as I was getting ready to pull out and start my day. This chick called in and lied!! She basically said she was just talking on her phone and I yelled at her so she turned it off. Then she said that I told her to "get the fuck off the bus or I'm calling the police" !!!!!!!! Can you believe it!!!!! What a liar!!

To make it worse, I pulled out and made my first stop at the Uptown station. Guess who was standing there waiting for my bus! You have no idea how hard it was for me not to confront that lying little bitch!! Instead, I used something I recently had in a training program that teaches you to deal with difficult people and situations. I just ran over and over in my head "be the bigger person, be the bigger person.." I chose to pretend she didn't exist and continued to greet, chat and be pleasant with the rest of my customers and enjoy my day.

Needless to say, I spoke with my manager and he said the complaint had already been "handled". He will look at the video eventually, but they know me well enough to know that I wouldn't be cussing out a passenger...especially when the reason I am kicking them off the bus is for cussing!! Thank God for all the bus cameras!!

STILL HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

No one has found me yet!! The contest is still on. I realize the Twin Cities is a large hunting ground, so here are a couple hints to help you find me this week.

I will be doing two routes per day this week.

Both routes run between south and northeast through downtown Minneapolis.

Good luck!

I THINK I MET YOUR MOM

I had the most adorable trio of little old ladies on my bus last week. They sat behind me and I couldn't help but enjoy their conversation. They seemed to be having a great time. During their conversation, one lady let a cuss word fly and the others giggled.

One lady was saying how, years ago when she had school age children, a friend had stopped by and wanted her to try marijuana with her. Another friend that was there just wanted to see what it looked like. The others puffed away on the joint and seemed to enjoy the forbidden pleasure. Then she said "but we had to quick open the windows and air out the house before the kids got home from school!"

I laughed to myself, as I wondered if MY mom ever did such a thing. Heck, I had to get my wild streak from someone! I called my mom later that day and told her the story. Then I asked if SHE had ever done that. She pleads innocent. I believe her.

Maybe it was YOUR mom that was on my bus!!

SHE BACKED ME UP !!

Unfortunately, it is pretty rare that other passengers will stand up for the bus driver. Normally, people prefer not to get involved and just sit and watch the show.

Last week, I was driving the route 11. I had just started out from 40Th and Central and was heading for downtown. I picked up a handful of people. One nice lady got on with a large tray of pretty purple flowers that I'm sure she was going home to plant outside. The weather was typical of spring. The sun was shining but there were spurts of fast, light rain occasionally. There was even a rainbow...always awesome to see!

A few blocks later there were two boys in their late teens standing at the bus stop. One had a bike. I opened the door and the one without the bike immediately tried to play "Let's make a deal" with the fare. He told me he had a transfer and wanted to pay a dollar for his friend. I told him the fare was $1.75. He put in the transfer and again tried to make a deal with the fare for his friend. I told him the fare was $1.75. That is what everyone else on the bus paid and it wouldn't be fair for him to pick his own price. I mentioned his friend had a bike, a lot more than some people have. They decided the friend would ride his bike and they'd meet up.

The kid sat in the seat right behind me. Across the aisle in the peanut seat area was the lady with the flowers. The kid started mumbling how he couldn't believe I made his friend ride his bike in the rain. I couldn't help myself. I get tired of everything being the bus drivers fault. I told him that I didn't bring him or his friend outside and if he didn't want to get wet on a rainy day it would be best to stay home. The real kicker was the rain wasn't bad. In fact, there was more sun than rain. Anyway, I stopped myself when I realized how stupid I was being. No point in trying to speak sensibly to a grumpy teenager. I decided to leave it alone and just enjoy the day.

The kid grumbled to himself a little more and the flower lady couldn't help herself. She shook her finger at the kid and said " I know you. You ride this bus all the time and you are always trying to get away with something. You never pay the fare right. It isn't fair to all the rest of us. We pay the fare every day...all day!" I was surprised. I don't do this route too often and didn't recognize the kid as a chronic fare evader, but that lady sure did! He seemed a little embarrassed to have been caught and tried "You must be thinking of someone else." She immediately confronted him further "No, it's YOU. You are always trying to get away with something!" The kid realized he was busted and wisely chose to just shut up.

I wanted so much to chime in and support this lady! I wanted her to know I appreciated her backing me up. As I considered doing so, my common sense busted in and ruined my fun. I decided it would be too much like we were ganging up on the kid and I chose to leave it alone. She did fine on her own. I did give her a big smile as she got off and asked her about her flowers. She was pleasant as can be. If the kid wasn't sitting right there, I'd have thanked her for putting him in his place.

When the kid got off downtown I treated him like everyone else. I said "Thank you, have a nice day." I think that really threw him off. It was actually kind of funny. You could just see that he wanted to be pissed, but I was being so happy and nice with everyone...including him, it just messed him up.

I hope to see that lady again...hopefully, soon. I just want to thank her.

LET THE GAME BEGIN !!!!

TODAY IS THE DAY !!!

The contest to see who can find me first is officially on! YOU COULD WIN PRIZES!!

Here's how it works. The first person to find me driving one of my routes who says the winning phrase to me wins. Simple as that.

There are a few rules I made up to make it fair.
My friends, family and coworkers are not eligible to win.
I must be driving the bus, not out on the street somewhere.
You must say the phrase for THIS contest (not the one I had last fall) in order to win.

The prizes are pretty cool. They are; a really neat Messenger Bag (so cool, I got myself one!)
the new and improved Beer Stein Style Mug
a bumper sticker and a pin.

Yep, that's right...one lucky winner takes it all!!

The phrase you need to say to me is.... "Picking up strangers is fun!" *

Start looking and good luck!!

Disclaimer, for those who take things a little to literally...
* I do not intend for anyone to go picking up people you don't know. It can be dangerous! This is simply referring to the name of my blog, since it IS what I do for a living!
Be smart, be safe!