Take a Ride On the Riled Side

On a frigid day like today (minus twenty-five with the wind chill), I’d like you all to think about the bus riders out there.  You know, those hardy souls who put up with cold and wet and snow in order to utilize our oh-so-convenient public transit, thereby preventing a few of the greenhouse emissions that will eventually kill us all.  Thanks to us, you’ve got a little longer to enjoy the planet.  You’re welcome.

Yes, we also serve who only stand and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  (Don’t let anyone tell you that there’s a bus handy when you need it.)  Winnipeg Transit used to have a slogan:  “Ride Above It All”.  But when you’re standing at a bus stop in January, unable to feel anything below knee-level, you don’t really feel like you’re above anything.  Unless maybe you’re so cold you’re having an out-of-body experience, looking down at your poor shivering self, way down below, frozen to the spot. 

Whether you believe it or not, there’s a price to be paid for every single one of you that decides that they can’t deal with taking the bus.  Pollution is the obvious one.  Someone’s got to take up the slack for you folks who decide you need your Tim’s or your Starbuck’s, and you can’t live without your McMuffin.  So all of us riders deal with the wasted time and the cruddy weather while you guys have your treats and get up half an hour later, just because you think you can. 

As far as I’m concerned, there are only two groups that deserve a pass on this issue:  those with physical challenges (confined to wheelchairs, for example) and parents of small children.  Because if you’ve ever had to haul a baby in a stroller and/or a toddler in a snowsuit (the equivalent weight being a drunken sumo wrestler tied to a boat anchor) any distance, you’ll know that it is soul-crushing to add public transportation into the mix. 

But all you able-bodied, child-free people?  Come on.  Get off your butts and out of your vehicles and face facts.  The world isn’t going to support your behaviour for much longer, either by design or by accident.  At some point, you will have to lower your First World standards to include a little thing called “reality”.  And that will involve not being comfortable and warm and sufficiently hydrated and fed every twenty minutes.  Come on coffee drinkers:  you can make it half an hour without your cuppa joe, can’t you?  Aren't we tough-as-nails Winnipeggers?

You should say a prayer of thanks for all of us brave bus riders.  Brave, not just in the sense that we brave the elements.  No, we are dragon-slaying-type brave.  We share our personal space (sometimes a bit too personally) with the widest variety of the human spectrum on a daily basis.  I’ve seen all kinds of socially unacceptable behaviour, from swearing and yelling to actual fights.  I’ve endured body odors, morning breath, perfume and cologne by the reeking gallon, and garlic breath that could bring down a healthy bull elephant without much effort. 

I’ve been ogled, stared at, chatted up and bored to tears by over-sharing strangers who felt the need to connect with someone.  Anyone, in fact.  I’ve been subjected to all kinds of too-loud music, from thrash metal to hip-hop, whether through crappy headphones or no headphones at all.  I’ve played witness to groping, snogging and make-out sessions that, try as I might, I just can’t un-see. 

But no matter what a pain in the butt it can be, there are still good things about riding Transit Tom.  Feeling morally superior is (obviously) one thing.  Being able to snag twenty or thirty minutes more sleep is pretty awesome.  Catching up on some reading is always sweet.  Not having to worry about finding a parking spot ranks pretty high.  And paying just eighty-four dollars for an entire month’s worth of transportation is fabulous, considering the high price of gas.  Besides all that, it’s just the right thing to do.  It is.  This planet is gasping for breath, and the last thing it needs is another line of gas-guzzling vehicles clogging up the roads or idling at the local coffee shop. 

So:  you think your daily commute is a pain?  Trust me:  if you saw what we put up with on transit, you’d shake our hands.  Maybe even buy us a Timmy’s at the next drive-through. 

Amen to that.