The year is 2010 and our untoward explorer once again ventures deep into the dank underbelly of human society. Deep down into the veritable microcosm of human existence she ventures. Here, the multivariate amalgamation of human endeavor breeds unparalleled adventure, conflict, danger (and boredom). Yes, my friends, once again it is time to visit the good old public transportation system.
It's not every day, though, that you get to see the operator make a spectacular ass out of himself.
The trip started with my usual bus ride into the city where I transferred to the 82 bus. The start of the ride was pretty uneventful, I flashed my pass at the driver, thanked him, and sat down. The bus driver seemed amicable enough to me. However, a few miles down the line a man with a walker gets on the bus and informs the driver regarding his destination to which the bus driver was rather terse and rude. Nothing too exciting.
The driver then, very impatiently and in an irritated way, folds up the seat at the wheelchair bay to give the man a place for his walker. The man places his walker in the bay, locks its breaks, and stumbles over to the facing seat to sits down. The bus driver then heads back to the controls without strapping the walker down, which, by the way, is a direct violation of VTA regulations which require mobility devices to be safely secured with the straps.
As the bus begins to leave the bus stop the walker, not being properly secured, slides a short distance along the floor. At this point the bus driver stops the bus, turns around, and demands that the man apply the breaks to his walker which, of course, he had already done. The man informs the driver of this fact and the driver proceeds to completely ignore him, demanding again that the breaks be applied. The man again informs the driver that the breaks were already engaged and suggests that the walker be strapped down, to which the driver kindly suggests the man do himself. This, of course, ignoring the fact that the man can barely walk upright, let alone bend down to apply the straps.
The passenger suggests to the driver that he "do [his] fucking job" and a short verbal altercation occurs.
The bus driver, at this point, demands that the man get the walker and hold on to it for a moment, which was completely reasonable considering the bus was partially in traffic. The man gets up, standing, and takes a hold of his walker at which point the bus driver resumes driving without waiting for the man to sit which almost resulted in the man falling down.
The bus driver then pulls over along the side of the road, opens the doors, and demands that the man get off the bus or else he was going to call the police. The man then informed the bus driver that he had every right to be on the bus just like everyone else and that it was the bus driver's responsibility to ensure that he and his mobility equipment were safely accommodated. Justly feeling that his rights were being violated, he refused to get off of the bus.
The bus operator phoned control and dispatched a sheriff's unit which arrived fifteen minutes later. The police officer came on board the bus and the bus operator, neglecting to mention that he had failed to strap in the man's walker, proceeded to tell the police officer how the passenger was being uncooperative and confrontational, citing the brief use of profanity. The operator then told the police officer that the man, someone who could barely stand up, was threatening and that he didn't feel safe with him on the bus.
The sheriff asked the man to follow him off the bus, which he did. At this point I was up there with the guy trying to see if I could help any way I could so I followed him off, not wanting it to come down to his word versus the bus operator's. The bus departed and the man explained everything that had happened to the police officer. Fortunately, the police officer was very sympathetic and felt that the man was right in asserting his rights and that the operator was out of line in abusing his power to call the police.
Great, I wasn't really needed after all.
The sheriff's deputy then called dispatch and had them deploy a VTA supervisor. The supervisor came and listened to the man and how he had been mistreated by operators for some time. The supervisor took some notes, gave the man some advice, and informed him that the bus operator was way out of line and that he would be getting a citation. The supervisor seemed genuinely upset by the whole incident. He gave both of us a ride in the supervisor's vehicle to our destinations, which was good.
I suppose all is well that ends well. Yes, we, and most of the people on the bus, ended up being late to where we were going and, yes, both the man and I ended up exhausted by the end of the ordeal. Nonetheless, it's good to know that not every time that a bigot decides to trample on our rights they will get away with it. It's good to know that there are people in the world who are brave enough to say "enough is enough" in the face of injustice.
It was also refreshing to see the police and the agency take the complaint seriously.
Honestly, I have little faith that any real punishment is going to be levied against the driver who's actions were inexcusable. The powers that be will most likely protect him and he'll get a slap on the wrist, at most. Possibly more, but that's unlikely. Such is the way of the kyriarchy. The true victory, then, was not the justice that was served but that for once the tyrant met with resistance, no matter how ultimately ineffectual that resistance may have been. For once, the tyrant was not able to oppress with impunity.
