Good Morning;
What a lovely autumn morning!
I am just typing a few thoughts here and then heading out to sit in the sun, because tomorrow it is supposed to cool down more and cloud up, and I will be sitting in one, maybe two, waiting rooms at D.S.S. and/or JAI Medical...(I am just tingling with anticipation............lol.....NOT!!).
So..I am planning on how to set up an OPEN Blog, with access to anyone who wants to post, in reference to the Maryland Transit Administration...aka--MTA, to be titled;
"MTA......Make Them Accountable!!!"
A forum for people to relate their experiences to others regarding such things as;
Surly, rude, arrogant, ignorant, obstructionist, racist..(or age or gender), bus drivers.
Buses that leave the terminus points 5, 10, 15 minutes or more early, (or late, when the bus has been sitting there, NOT on the occasions when it pulls in late..these things do happen).
Buses that pass by people waiting on a stop.
BUSES THAT CONSISTENTLY IGNORE SPEED LIMITS AND OTHER TRAFFIC LAWS....AND NEVER!!!! SEEM TO BE STOPPED BY THE POLICE!!????!!
Drivers who do not wait for the elderly, disabled, or folks with small children or many packages to sit down or at least get a grip on a handrail, before speeding around corners, slamming on brakes, pulling off with jackrabbit starts..etc.
Drivers who will not answer when asked a question, or who will not tell the rowdy school kids, or adults, to settle down or move back, when they are all crowded in narrowest spot in the aisle.
Drivers who have conversations with their 'buddies', who are standing in the fare box area the whole ride, and treat you as if you are the problem when you can't get by.
Drivers who overload the bus beyond capacity and still stop at a crowded stop to pick up more people.
Administration personnel who do the scheduling and routing.
Phone operators who are sarcastic and expect you to know the details of the very question you are calling to ask.
And many other issues, most of which concern, simple civility, fairness, and respect..for passengers, and the traffic laws.
What finally brought this idea, (which has been simmering for a while), to a head were two incidents when I was out with Rachel yesterday. we were about to get on the12:40 pm., #58 bus to Mt. Washington. Rachel had a few leaves from a bamboo plant that we had collected on the way and which she wanted to take home and press in a book for her leaf collection. The driver told her she could not bring them on the bus, i said "You must be joking" and stared at him as if he were nuts, he got all puffed up and said "I'm not joking", so to avoid a hassle while Rachel was there, (oh boy if she hadn't been....lol), we threw them out the door, and he pulled off with a jerk as Rachel..who is 5.. was trying to take out the bus money from her pocket, if I had not been holding on to her she would have fallen, and you would not be reading this because the bus driver would be in the hospital, and I would probably be in jail. We got seated and were looking out the window and watching, when the bus turned off Cross Country Boulevard on to Green Spring Avenue there was a woman frantically waving her arms to stop the bus, this is in an area where there is no sign...(missing, run over..??)...and the nearest stop is at least a 1/2 mile or more up the hill, where EVERY driver will pick up a passenger..well almost every driver, this jerk blew by her at speed. Now halfway up the hill there was someone who wanted to get off the bus...where there was no stop...and the driver let that person off. Next was an older woman with a VERY SLIGHT!!! accent who wanted to know about where to get off to get to a certain address, the driver acted like he did not know what she was saying, and basically ignored her. When he did let her off, he was away from the curb and did not lower the front of the 'kneeling bus' as required, but 3 stops on down the road, he took extra effort to pull in close to the curb. The curious thing about all this is that in all three incidents that occurred, the passengers were White or Latino....anybody see a pattern?
I looked for his badge number as we got off, but it was 'conveniently' hidden beneath his lapel...hmmmm? Again, I was with Rachel, so I let it slide. I am hoping that this jerk was only a replacement driver on this route, if not...oh well...'we're gonna dance'..........lol.
Oh, and get this, the MTA has supervisors out on the road doing surprise inspections to see who is not wearing a tie....Don't get me Started on that one!
Anyway, I'm out of here for now.....see you later.......Dave
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