My Best Day As a Transit Blogger!

Deke's Note: Hey, I'm just your average bus operator who writes a blog. Today however, these stats took a drastic upward turn, leaving me to wonder, what the fuck?!? The most hits FTDS has earned in one day is around 1,500, which was a real response to something I wrote a year or two ago. Since then, it has been normal to see about 200-500 hits per day. That's pretty cool, but it seems more real than a few thousand in as many hours.

A friend suggested it's Russian bots driving these outrageous stats. I don't "ken" the finer details of today's technological wizardry. Maybe someone is out there sending robotic clicks onto my humble blog, running up the numbers. If it was a true phenomenon, or I was anything but an average writer, a few of you "readers" would grace these pages with a comment or a dozen. But you have not. This makes me believe it's simply a an anomaly, a pipe dream that 2,500 people took the time to read what I have offered here.

My biological brothers would tell me I'm simply enjoying the accolades of an idiot savant. They're likely correct. I've always loved to write. Since I learned to read at an early age, the magic of putting words on a page has intrigued me like no other magic spell. Seeing the reaction of those who read what I put down is better than any drugged state I've known. In fact, your reaction is probably the most powerful high. To see these record-breaking stats has been both exhilarating yet troubling. If you read THIS, please... comment. Send me an email at deaconinblue@gmail.com. Tell me what brought you here. Does what I write have any meaning to you, or am I simply a blue-collar scrub whose words are a pitiful disgrace to today's declining literary well?

What is "Unknown Region"? And THANK YOU UNITED STATES CITIZENS for once more leading the way in my readership stats. Canada had us beat for quite a while, until the Unknowns made themselves known. My hat is off to France as well, coming in a strong third. Canada, we haven't been communicating as well lately, but thanks for consistently returning. What of Ukraine, Cambodia, Argentina, Ireland, India, Japan, China, Brazil, Germany and Mexico? Evidently you know English enough to read or have it translated into your native tongue. (Ah, the wonders of Internetlandia!) What prohibits you from leaving me a note, giving me your thoughts on what is written here? A writer craves feedback. I'm open to the negative as well as kudos, because your interaction and critiques help me grow as a writer. Don't be bashful... I respond to ALL who take a moment of your precious time just to say hello.

My buddy's travels to Scotland and Ireland did wonders for my writing. Thanks Patrick for distributing my book "JUST DRIVE - Life in the Bus Lane" to those you met along your travels. I have yet to hear from any of them, but that's okay. Perhaps someday my book will find its way back into their hands, bearing my signature, and they will enjoy at least part of my rambles. It is after all, a simple collection of these blog posts transformed into book form, a memoir of my first stumblings as a transit operator/blogger.

It was great fun to produce the book. It was pure dedication to this craft I did so. Most of my life was given to fits of dedication only to be replaced by complacency. I couldn't seem to finish what I started. My daughter grew 10 years before I finally finished the doll house I built for her.

Producing the book was quite a task. I mean, most of it was already written. "How hard could it be?" I asked myself. The answer was a long-time coming. First, I read every one of my blog posts to date, and chose each to be included. Then, I began editing, but took care not to change the tone of each post while cleaning up blogger's mistakes. (Most blogs were written after a long shift, not privy to the careful eye of an editor.) It took 18 months of painstaking work to produce this book, and I'm proud of it. True, I "bitched" considerably throughout, but it was meant to be a "day in the life" look at what a bus operator experiences from Day 1 through four-plus years driving a city bus.

Most of the book's criticism arises from my penchant for giving "hell" to certain sectors with whom operators interact. I can live with that. They all deserved my wrath, and many still do. I stand by every word in this blog and the book, including my olive branch to management. To date, my local transit management hasn't given me the satisfaction of admitting that yeah, they know who I am. It would have to be brain dead to not have guessed my true identity years ago, and their reluctance to silence me is to be commended. It gives me hope that we retain our individuality as simple and expendable "employees" of a governmental corporate entity, free to speak our minds as dutiful slaves of the local transit tax. Respectfully, I do try. Sometimes, I fail the respectful part, but that stems from management's disrespectful edicts that leave us all shaking our collective heads in disbelief. Still, that means I'll keep on writing my mind, so to speak.

I am so grateful to those who know me, for not "outing" the Deke. Your dedication to my pseudonym is deeply gratifying. I take it as a wonderful token of respect, and I hopefully return your honor with my words of support for your, our, collective plight. My words here are devoted to your well-being, your safety, and our quest for the wide-reaching respect this profession deserves. THANK YOU. The day one of my brothers or sisters "outs" me to management will be the day that I'm fired and stop writing here. It's a major commitment for me to state this, given my love for using my humble scribblings to stand up for those I work alongside. Some of you don't always agree with my opinion and that's okay. I'm not always right and you're not always wrong. Please remember this blog is simply a bus operator's way of "venting" after a long day behind the wheel. You do the job too (or have in years past, revered retirees), and your own thoughts and feelings are equally as important to me as my own. I do not begrudge you of your opinions, and value yours too. If another of my brothers or sisters begins a similar blog, I will heartily support it. My opinions dwell within my soul; that of others deserves (at least) as much respect as you have given me.

There are others who have written about this occupation. Billy Alsheimer preceded my humble offering with a book of his own, "All Aboard - One Driver's Story," which is hopefully to soon become a television sitcom I will lovingly support. In Florida, my dear friend and fellow blogger Robert touches my heartstrings with his soulful "Bus Tropical" and makes me truly envious of his writing style, and how he refuses to hide behind a pseudonym. We exchange postcards and feature each other's blogs on our own out of mutual respect for each other. Then there's the irascible and prickly but always-relevant Al Margulies, who impales the foolishness of management and its "Bored of Directors" with a sharp pen and wit on "Rantings of a Former TriMet Bus Operator."

While I'm grateful for today's hit explosion, I'm self-aware enough to realize it is probably an anomaly. I do not write here for anything other than to describe what it's like to sit in an operator's seat. We see the good, bad and often ugly views from the driver side of a bus. It's a living, just barely. Given the wages of the average working person, it's a better job than many who board my bus. To some, I'm "rich." Others look down on me as unworthy to empty their gilded chamber pots. Either way, I'm glad to have the opportunity to do something I've always loved: to just drive. I work hard to ensure a smooth glide along Portland's funky streets. My father taught me to keep my passengers' comfort foremost in mind, and it remains my ultimate goal while driving the Beast.

Thanks for reading, whoever and wherever you are. Please drop me a note in any electronic venue you choose. I relish knowing why the fuck you're reading this shit.