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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:26 am Subject: Bus Stories: Saga of a Gas Saver

As some of you may remember I decided to start taking the bus to work. I now am a regular customer of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit System here in Tampa Bay. No gas needed. No stress. No one has called me number one with the wrong finger. I get cardio walking the half mile back and forth also. But it does have its moments.
The first day the bus arrives on US 19 in Clearwater right on time. I get on and swipe my daily Go Card. There is one seat in the back so I take it. After two stops the bus is already half empty so I move to a better seat. No one talks, some sleep. Frankly I could have boarded with a cage of chickens balanced on my head speaking Lithuanian to myself and no one would even look up.
The ride is easy and I arrive at the plaza behind Target and switch to another bus that takes me on the 5 minute ride down Gandy Blvd to the office center in St Pete where I work. Off the bus, a short walk and I am at my desk. I tell my co-workers of my pleasant experience. However the return trip that evening will prove to be a little different.
It is 5 PM and it is pouring rain with frequent cloud to ground lightning. What they call a frog strangler in some parts of the south. When you think it can't rain any harder it proves you wrong. If I do not get to my stop in 10 minutes a quarter mile up the road I will have to walk another 1/4 mile and wait 20 minutes more. I am terrified as the lighting is hitting the ground so close that there is no time between flash and thunder. I am holding an umbrella that basically is only keeping my head dry and would be a good lighting rod. I duck into a doorway about a hundred feet from the bus stop bench and wait. I see a bus approaching so I make a mad dash for the stop. I wave frantically to get the driver to see me and as he speeds by I read the sign "out of service" just before a large plume of water front the tires soaks me from head to toe. A few minutes later I see my bus approaching.
I pull my soaked body onto the bus, swipe my soggy Go Card and sit down in a moving freezer. He has the air cranked down to what now feels like 30 degrees to my soaked body. I reach the plaza and by now the rain has stopped and I catch the second bus for home. The drivers two way radio is crackling with chatter about flooding and detours and fires. Welcome to the world of commercial transportation. The saga will be continued tomorrow. It gets better.

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:17 am Subject: reply

cool can't wait,by the way.how old is that umbrella?every one
i own and have seen for the last 8yrs has a wood tip to
prevent what you just described.being a ligthing rod.go figure.
by the way,love the new avatar.

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:34 am Subject:

It is about 5 years old I guess. It is metal except for the handle which is plastic. Trees are wood and they get hit all the time. I saw the sap get boiled out of one once. Tampa Bay is known as the lightning capitol of the world. They even named the NHL team the Lightning. I have seen lightning come out of a blue sky miles from any storm. It is scary! Almost as scary as some of the people that ride that bus!

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:41 am Subject:

Oh how I miss the FL thunder storms and every summer when they counted the lightening strikes on the news...not really! Frog, I saw lightening hit a tree, go to the roots and up a metal fence to the house, which was a metal trailer and hit the propane tank...wanna guess what happened next? I am sorry you had a bad experiece..I thought I remembered it raining at 4:00pm everyday like clock work...when I was leaving work Laughing

. Hopefully this will not be the norm for your experience with mass transit. Wink

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 11:05 am Subject:

I'm on the bus now too Smile

I started back in January and it was a cold walk but pleasant. Lucky for me I only have to catch one bus and walk about 3 blocks. As the cost of gas has gotten way out of control the bus is a complete madhouse! People litterally run each other over trying to get in to line first so they have a seat. We had 5 staning and 2 choose to sit on the floor the other night. I don't like the thunderstorms either. Thankfully most of them don't occur here, NC, until after I get off at 4:30. I've met some really great people so far and I love the time I have now to read.

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 12:02 pm Subject:

Anything can be hit by lightening.....plastic, wood, water, humans. Its just a matter of how well it conducts with the material it hits. An umbrella with a wood tip will not prevent a lightening strike.

I also hope this isnt the depth of your experience with mass transit. Its a great way to go barring the bad weather Sad

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:10 pm Subject:

This is something that I could never figure out, why do they make umbrellas out of metal type material that is could be a walking lighting rod....beats me.

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:23 am Subject:

Well its the next day and my ride into work was pretty uneventful and relaxing. I read the paper and noticed some of the same people on the bus from the day before. The ride home was going the same but all the people were different and some very strange looking to put it conservatively. There were three bikes on the rack on the front of the bus which is all that it holds. The bus stopped to pick up some fares and ther was a guy with a bike that was obviously a street person of which Florida has more than their share. He was wearing what looked like a halter top with a big bare belly sticking out from under it. He screamed at the driver how he had been waiting in the hot sun for over an hour and wanted demanded to bring his bike on the bus. The driver, a woman as cool and calm as I have ever seen, told him the rules and closed the door. At that point he became enraged and started to kick and punch the bus. Lucky for him she only pretented to radio the police and he quickly calmed down. On my way again. End of day two.

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:36 am Subject: reply

this is better than taxi cab confessions,wonder if you could
interest HBO?

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:55 am Subject:

Frog, I love reading your writing. It is so vivid and alive. Very Happy

Guest · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:34 am Subject:

Maany of us see this on a daily basis. It is the joys of public transportation. Really no big deal at all once you get used to it

Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:40 am Subject:

Frogpatch,
Thank you for sharing your ongoing saga with us! What a fantastic way to look at it. It seems as if you are looking at it through a different perspective. I hope that your rides become more enjoyable, whether you like the added drama or the peace and quiet. I look forward to another episode of "As the Bus Wheel Turns" Wink

Jen

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 6:51 pm Subject:

Frog, I am so glad you have joined our exclusive bus-riding club! I have used public transit for years--and can tell you that I never have to hassle with parking at the hospital where I work (It's a HUGE pain) and the bus dumps me off literally outside my office door. I take two buses and a BART train and I get there about twenty minutes early every day.

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:03 pm Subject:

Thanks for the bus saga, Frog. I'm rather enjoying it. I drive a transit bus as a second job / community service type thing. Started doing that almost ten years back, when I was trying to get the consultancy going, and enjoyed it so much I just kept doing it. Your 'stories from the other side' are great!

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:11 am Subject:

I love reading your stories frog- so descriptive! We don't have transit service where I live, although they do in the next town.

My hubby and I went out of town, actually out of state for about 4 days during the 4th. There they have trolleys and they also have these small bus things.

The bus stops, there is a seat in the back which I procede to go to. Hubby is showing our bus passes and proceeds to walk down the aisle too. This doofus apparently didn't look and jammed the gas to take off- I went flying to the back and a lady grabbed me, hubby went flying past me and some guy grabbed him Laughing

should have yelled whip lash Laughing