I Had a Bad Day; Better Now

Sometimes I visit you here, with nothing really on my mind to write. I just like a one-on-one, bus driver to whoever reads me. It's been a helluva week, the end of a signup. Seems things go belly-up once in a while, and lately Portland has challenged me more than usual. I'm game, but it still causes me to "shake my damn head."

I feel loose creatively. With the book almost put to bed, I'm wrestling with the decision of how and when I should "come out." It seems cowardly to remain hiding behind this thinly-disguised pseudonym. One reader asked why I talk about myself in the third person. He doesn't even know me yet he's figured out this tired and foolish game of hiding my true identity. So when the book comes out, I guess I might have to. If the transit agency is annoyed by my honest opinions and description of this oddball life, they'll look bad and I'll sell more books. Its folly could be my gold mine. So we'll see where the chips fall. Hopefully, most of them fall into my bank account because I might need every cent to avoid living in a tent.

Back to the last night of my regular weekday run. I've always had pretty good luck with this route. It has bunches of bubbles in the paddle. Running late? Wait until you get to Point 86 and you'll find yourself on time again. No big deal. After the first few runs, it smooths out into a night run that is relatively copacetic. Not this time. Each run was busy, even the late night final run to downtown. This is highly unusual, but in hindsight I reckon it's because of the holiday weekend.

One of my brothers would ride my bus a short distance to the point where he road reliefs his bus. We usually share a few laughs, stories of the road or just normal chit chat. I was so tense and grouchy yesterday, my buddy jumped off earlier than normal. It made me pause and evaluate my behavior. I felt terrible, because Chris is a very nice fellow and my demeanor must have irritated him. Up to then, I had been working up to an eventual blowup, and being the upbeat type he may not have wanted anything to do with my snarling attitude before starting his own run. Don't blame him a bit. But now I won't get to see him every day, and I'm ashamed. It wasn't his fault so many things had happened. Most of it we deal with daily, but I had allowed it to negatively affect me. Sorry Chris, you didn't deserve it. Hopefully, all is forgiven because he knows I'm not normally so surly.

Although I resolved when Chris departed to shake it all off and make my day better, things seemed to spiral downward from there. I had to turn-and-burn on one run instead of taking a short break. It's something I advise people not to do, but I felt that by getting the next run started on time my day might improve. It only added to my stress, and now my bladder was madder. Still, through gritted teeth and a determination not to chase anyone else away, I smiled and greeted each passenger kindly. Maybe my vibes were electrically chasing normal holiday weekend cheer back out the door when they boarded, because my passengers weren't buying the con. They could tell I was having a bad day and to their credit, they were mostly kind and compassionate. Their exit thank-you's seemed more pronounced and heartfelt than normal. Many told me I had done a "great job" and "thanks for the smooth ride." That helped, because through it all, I concentrated on rolling the ride without bouncing them around.

We're all given a choice every day, to make each one pleasant. When you deal with such a large cross-section of the public, your customer service skills need to be top-notch if you want to have a comfortable ride. There's no telling how many of your passengers are on a hair trigger, so you need to remain calm and amiable to keep evil at bay.

I hadn't thought it would be a rough day. As usual, reciting The Mantra brought me peace before I began driving. There was no foreboding sense of doom, my mood was more cheerful than usual. It was the last day of the signup, and I'm looking forward to doing something different. It's not wise to make excuses when I have a bad day, but I'm just lucky nothing terrible happened. An angry driver can be prone to making mistakes he normally would not.

One operator made the observation on my last post that "bus driving isn't rocket science." He wasn't convinced that newbies need extra time before becoming full time. In fact, the overall response was overwhelmingly in support of allowing newbies to dive into the morass as soon as they desire. After all, they said, how else is one to get experience? Their logic is true. Perhaps I'm just too cautious and my opinion is without merit here. After all, even though I have years of experience, I allowed myself to have a "bad" day instead of powering through it and inverting my scowl.

While I agree our profession isn't as technically demanding as some, it does require us to be constantly vigilant and in control. A professional airline pilot has a co-pilot and an auto pilot. We don't have onboard computers to glide our ride The more miles we drive the better prepared we become to handle the many stressors that can (and often do) arise. Those who disagreed with my position have a valid point. The experience we gain comes from simply doing the job. One transit agency requires new drivers to spend several weeks in Line Training, which involves their driving veteran operators' routes under their direct supervision. Our agency only provides one week of this vital instruction. I might suggest they extend our Line Training if they're going to continue allowing people to go full time so quickly. It might just save the district money in the long run through fewer accidents and loss of new operators.

I've been slapped down this week, and it's a good thing. It's not advisable to start a new route with a bad attitude. There is something to be said for a weekend to mellow out and relax... it recharges me. I'm looking forward to different views of this marvelous city, and hoping to make a few new friends over the next three months.

Tonight, I was treated to the first drafts of the cover for my upcoming book, "JUST DRIVE - Life in the Bus Lane." The designer I hired has years of experience in her craft, and I was excited to see what she had presented me. She completed five mockups, and I've narrowed the choice to two possibilities. Seeing my book getting closer to publication is the perfect elixir for a vacation-starved soul. This is a dream I've had since I was but a lad. Look for it in early October.

In the meantime, and hopefully after the release, I'll improve my attitude. We all have bad days... the trick is to not allow too many in a row.