Patrick Takes Over

Portland Bus Operator Patrick Coomer

Deke's Note: Wow, the week prior to vacations are painful. The body aches for relief from the rigors of pressing an air brake pedal (on average 800 times/day), twisting, turning and always watchful for dangers. I have winced at media reports and managerial slights, one eye turned toward two weeks of blissful absence from this vocation and the other focused on the safety of those he transports with pride.

Patrick and I began writing at almost the same time. In some ways, we're better than one another, each goading the other to improve. We argue who is the better writer, but he tends to best me more often than not. Still, I'm the one with a third of a million "hits" while he languishes in virtual nowhere-land. Maybe this nod to him while I take a much-needed hiatus will improve his visibility. Please be gentle... he's a needy lil' prick.

With this post, I "brake" (sic on purpose) free of this job for a few weeks, as my long-awaited vacation looms. I'm not going anywhere. My alter-ego, best bud and confidante is, however. This is his first in a series (if he chooses to write as often as I do) of Guest Posts. If it's sporadic, give him a break... he'll be in freakin' Scotland and Ireland for cryin' out loud! I'm jealous, because he's with that hottie wife of his, all alone. Lucky bastard! I'll mimic his trip with ample tastes of Scotch and Irish drams, keeping in close contact as he allows. Meanwhile, don't try to find me... I'll be incognito. Carry on, Patrick... and thanks for the break. I need it.

The book which captured the attention
of a worldwide audience. Worth a read!

U.K. Vacation: Introduction

By Patrick Coomer

Hello brothers and sisters of the road, and many other followers of Deke's FromTheDriverSide! I've had a really busy year in preparation of this trip of a lifetime to Scotland and Ireland my darling Stacey and I are about to begin in celebration of our 25 years of wedded bliss.

Not only have I had to prop up the Deke and counsel him against the exhaustion we've both faced as city bus operators as he constantly contemplates "coming out," but also battled my own fatigue and ridiculous SIPs which were obviously misunderstandings from passengers who just don't understand transit.

I told Deke to just rest and work on his new book while I take the pressure off of him to produce this worldwide-phenomenon of a transit blog. It's amazing he has garnered 18,000 hits the past 30 days alone, far surpassing 2017's 15k in November. When he published his book, Deke's blog had 170,000 hits; today it has surpassed 322,000. His stats have nearly doubled in just two years! That's impressive, but he remains humble.

Deke recently told me, "I don't write for stats. All I ever wanted to do was tell our story, as honestly as possible, from the seat. Few others were doing it when I started, but hopefully more begin to speak up. Anything other than that is just icing on the transit brownie."

Deke began here as a "newbie" only hoping to practice his trade as a writer. I encouraged him, and am very proud of the successes FTDS has achieved, let alone his book "JUST DRIVE - Life in the Bus Lane," which I will distribute to our Scots and Irish fellows. It is with pride I share his work with operators over 4,600 miles distant, and it is my hope his words resonate from there as they have here, and with people in Canada, France, Australia, Russia, China, Brazil, Italy, Spain, and many other countries.

Yeah, Deke is tired of the façade. For nearly 6.5 years, he has written this blog for you, from his perspective in a city bus seat. I know how it feels, because I do the same job. We're brothers, confidantes. Sometimes we are so frustrated with each other, we have nearly come to blows. Yet deep down, we have loved each other for decades. I pick up a phone, and it's like Deke is speaking through me as we converse. We know what the other will say before it is said. I'm very happy we're so close. It hasn't always been so, but as we grow old together, we become closer every day. And that, my friends, is as it should be. Gone are the petty feuds and jealousies, the antagonistic and competitive bullshit. All we know now is solidarity, a oneness with each other... the understanding of decades together. And yes, we're comfortable in this familiarity.

I won't tell you HOW we know each other, but it's a relationship that transcends family ties. I have a contractual agreement with Deke not to reveal his true identity, and I constantly trust you to honor my own commitment to his anonymity. We both depend upon your solidarity. Neither of us can afford management's harsh discipline for our collective sins at this stage of our careers. Yet, the threat is real. Still, we continue together in hopes management will somehow merge with the collective wisdom of those who make their jobs possible. As Deke has said so eloquently before, we could do our jobs even more efficiently without management's interference. This said, I say #DEKE4GM with great enthusiasm. We are one of many celebrated careers, but we hold the joker card which gives us more power: the knowledge of what makes transit tick. If society would allow transit workers to manage, Portland would quickly once again regain its once-vaunted #1 standing.

Even though you may sometimes disagree with Deke politically or otherwise, he trusts the brotherhood of transit to honor the solidarity he loves you for. Deke adores his brothers and sisters nearly as much as his own family. You know from personal interaction, our collective ties are stronger than anything management's weak "branding" stands for. We care about each others' families, and come together when disaster strikes. Management is simply there: we're doing the work they take credit for.

He was a blind bus operator once upon
a Halloween Eve...

When my father died, I was moved to tears when so many of you reached out to me. Deke, having suffered the same loss, allowed me to grieve personally with him. Even after five decades together, we became even closer when Dad passed last year. He knew Pa Coomer well, having flown with him over the rough skies of many an Arizona summer dawn. He laughed as Dad taught me to drive over a rough high-country road when I was 10. Yeah, Deke goes way back with us all. His memories resonate with my own, and we are forever friends.

I was the first to suggest he write about being a transit operator. It is a great honor to be entrusted with his blog as Stacey and I embark upon this wonderful journey to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary together in the magical and historic United Kingdom. The rebellious Scots who willingly gave their lives upon the Culloden Battlefield in 1746 remind me of our American ancestors who bravely defeated the British and secured our nation's birth 30 years later. It is with humility and respect I will visit this spot where a thousand Scots sacrificed their lives in service to whom they believed should have been their king. My own ancestors fought in the American Revolution, as they have in every war our country has embarked upon during its tenure. Perhaps it is this rebellious nature which guides me, and my brother Deke, as we urge our own to STAND and fight as ONE for the rights of Portland transit workers and those everywhere.

Even though Deke is tired of hiding, he continues fighting for us all from the keyboard. In order to support his family, he needs this job. Still, he bravely reports "from the seat" because he knows nothing else than speaking personal knowledge to truth. If management discovers his true identity, he could be summarily dismissed for freely airing the collective megaphone of our frustrations.

Deke has one objective: to tell the story very few will. My buddy is brave, often reckless in his disdain for our management's miscues. Sometimes, he tends to sway toward the extreme and uses language some might believe is fucked up. Still, anyone who has held the wheel of a 20-ton bus in their hands will understand, we are often pushed to extremes. Some may consider his language obscene, but we're often abused much worse than the public is given to understand.

A bus operator's "office."

Our management cannot speak from our experience. Deke bridges that gap. People from the corporate world have overtaken transit management, especially in Portland. It is commendable they have taken steps to try and understand us more. Few have gone through operator training, but were forbidden via union rules to fully-engage in Line Training. If they were compelled to drive in service for even six months, they might feel more forgiving when we err in their eyes. Perhaps if they drove a late-night 72 or 4 or 6 or 9, they would understand the pressures we feel behind the wheel. If allowed to take the wheel while we trained them how to do our jobs, the meager $1/hour extra we're paid to do this vital task would raise five times. Those who we do train to drive our routes would agree we deserve more than the spare buck we have been been paid for decades to share our knowledge with those hired to someday replace us.

ATU 757 STRONG!

Whether I agree with our leadership, I support our union with fervor and devotion. Even more important, it is vital every union member VOTE at every opportunity, to show up at meetings, to let your individual voices be heard. While I rarely attend, I do try. When family matters intervene, I find myself unable to join my fellows. It's hard to balance blood family with our union, but whenever possible, please make every effort to do so.

Many of us tend to denigrate our union leaders because of disagreements and politics. While I may not always agree with them, I believe our leaders have our best interests at heart. Without them, we would be in much more dire straits. We seem to fight with one another more than we discuss and come together upon the issues which are the most vital to our collective good. Some tend to hold on to past elections as if they are more important than the issues at hand. Such divisiveness only strengthens the opposition. It is evident not only in local unions, but also in our national politics. We were once a country which could disagree while working together to form compromises that moved us forward... together. I mourn this solidarity, but remain optimistic we can once again learn to work toward a more positive future.

Maybe I'm just an old fool, but the late and great comedian Richard Pryor was right: "You don't get to be old bein' a fool. Lots of wise young dudes deader than a motherfucker."

Three of my favorite operators: Jen, ChaCha and Jay
 joined us in #BANDTOGETHER 2018.
Will you?

As I prepare to leave Portland for the longest journey of my life, my fellows will join our local brother Henry Beasley here (and the movement's founder, Dwayne Russell, Sr. of Jacksonville, FL) in #BANDTOGETHER 2019. Once again, we will wear a BandAid on our "passenger side" cheek for the week of Sept. 15-21, with the number of attacks upon local transit workers written upon it. Our local media refuses to accurately report violence against US while pouncing on any alleged mistake by our numbers, no matter how outrageous and unsubstantiated. We will inform the public, because our media fails to do its job. Now in its third year, #BANDTOGETHER has inspired thousands of transit workers to join us this year. We'll blast downhill in growing numbers until our massive plight is fully heard, or we will eventually bury those who refuse to listen.

Two more days of ferrying my townspeople to wherever they choose, and I'm done through October 8. That's the day Dad died last year. He was so happy to hear we were going to Scotland. My birthday is October 5. The last time we spoke, Dad called as usual to sing the "birthday song" as horribly as possible. His last words to me: "I'll wait for you." He made good on his promise, and I shall make good on mine. I'm not sure how or when, but I'll let you know, on FTDS, how my trip is going and how it has been. If not, I'll let you know upon my return. Until then, I hope Deke gets rested, drinks a shitload of whisky in my absence and writes like mad on his upcoming novel. Like many, I can't wait to read the finished tale.

Thanks Dad, and Stacey. Without either of you, this journey would not be possible. I hope to do Dad's words of wisdom justice: "Have fun every day."

Next time you hear from me will be from some distillery over yonder. Until, during and always, may you all have safe journeys, whether as bus operators or otherwise.

Thanks,
Patrick Coomer
Bus Operator