![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
humanity = teh suck
Nov. 23rd, 2006 09:44 pmIt's been snowing all day, and by 5PM, we'd accumulated about 5" of it. The roads were big skating areanas.
So, naturally, my bus is late. Very late. Like, 15 minutes late. The driver is not one I recognize, and the 5:15 and 5:30 bus drivers rarely change. its pretty crowded right off the bat, so I'm thinkin' that it's been awhile since the last bus came through.
ANyway, we get up to the industrial section, a guy wants off. Driver does not open the door for him. He's yelling up to teh front to open the back door. Front doors close, we move about 4" and several other people yell, in very annoyed tones, "OPEN THE BAC DOOR". Guy gets off. Someone behind me says "Dumbass."
Strike one.
We get up to 131 St (ish) where there is a side pull-out stop. And we sit. And we wait. For a long time. The woman behind me says, "Why are we sitting here? I want to go home."
Dude next to her, "I want to go home too."
The bus driver gets on the speakers and says that there is a woman at the front with chest pains, so he has called for an ambulance, and we are waiting for the ambulance to arrive to take care of her before we move.
The people behind me go "Oh."
And we sit and wait some more. Some people get off and walk. The streets are crowded with rush hour traffic, which is lasting longer because of the horrid conditions. The people behind me keep chatting. The condensed, Readers Digest version: The woman is annoyed that she could have waited for another bus, such as the 7 (which was also late by the time we left, but might have been more on time in actually leaving the terminal, as it sits for 20 minutes), but she chose to ride the 3 because it's cold out and she wanted to get home faster. She lives on 107 Ave and 104 St. The man says he should have taken the 5 to his home on 107 Ave and 112 St. They say to each other, "the "good samaritan" bus driver." "oh yeah, " The other agrees.
By that point, I am just beside myself with horror at the people I have shared this ride with. I have taken first aid, but I feel that I don't know enough about chest pains to even remember what I should have her do if I offer my help. And there is help on the way, which is not that far down the street. I can at least pay attention, and if the people around her start freaking out, I can jump up then. Someone on this bus is suffering a medical emergency, no matter how minor, and all they can do is complain about how they took this bus, whcih is now waiting on someone's health, because they didn't want to wait in the cold any longer?
I'm cold and I want to go home too. BUt I would much rather be late and warm in a bus with working heat and knowing that someone's health is being given concern over a schedule than having the driver ignore that woman's concern and go about his route. SUre, he could still call emergency, but then the ambulance would have to CATCH UP TO US and precious seconds could change everything.
I made sure I yelled "Thank you" to the driver as loud as I could when I got off.
Nameless bus driver, I salute you.
So, naturally, my bus is late. Very late. Like, 15 minutes late. The driver is not one I recognize, and the 5:15 and 5:30 bus drivers rarely change. its pretty crowded right off the bat, so I'm thinkin' that it's been awhile since the last bus came through.
ANyway, we get up to the industrial section, a guy wants off. Driver does not open the door for him. He's yelling up to teh front to open the back door. Front doors close, we move about 4" and several other people yell, in very annoyed tones, "OPEN THE BAC DOOR". Guy gets off. Someone behind me says "Dumbass."
Strike one.
We get up to 131 St (ish) where there is a side pull-out stop. And we sit. And we wait. For a long time. The woman behind me says, "Why are we sitting here? I want to go home."
Dude next to her, "I want to go home too."
The bus driver gets on the speakers and says that there is a woman at the front with chest pains, so he has called for an ambulance, and we are waiting for the ambulance to arrive to take care of her before we move.
The people behind me go "Oh."
And we sit and wait some more. Some people get off and walk. The streets are crowded with rush hour traffic, which is lasting longer because of the horrid conditions. The people behind me keep chatting. The condensed, Readers Digest version: The woman is annoyed that she could have waited for another bus, such as the 7 (which was also late by the time we left, but might have been more on time in actually leaving the terminal, as it sits for 20 minutes), but she chose to ride the 3 because it's cold out and she wanted to get home faster. She lives on 107 Ave and 104 St. The man says he should have taken the 5 to his home on 107 Ave and 112 St. They say to each other, "the "good samaritan" bus driver." "oh yeah, " The other agrees.
By that point, I am just beside myself with horror at the people I have shared this ride with. I have taken first aid, but I feel that I don't know enough about chest pains to even remember what I should have her do if I offer my help. And there is help on the way, which is not that far down the street. I can at least pay attention, and if the people around her start freaking out, I can jump up then. Someone on this bus is suffering a medical emergency, no matter how minor, and all they can do is complain about how they took this bus, whcih is now waiting on someone's health, because they didn't want to wait in the cold any longer?
I'm cold and I want to go home too. BUt I would much rather be late and warm in a bus with working heat and knowing that someone's health is being given concern over a schedule than having the driver ignore that woman's concern and go about his route. SUre, he could still call emergency, but then the ambulance would have to CATCH UP TO US and precious seconds could change everything.
I made sure I yelled "Thank you" to the driver as loud as I could when I got off.
Nameless bus driver, I salute you.
