![]() ![]() The best I've got to give for my fellow drivers (plus anyone who's got a sitting job!): A Love Letter for My Colleagues: Exercises and Stretches for Operators.More on why I love "these foo's": The Swagger I Love: Thoughts on My Fellow Operators.Inspiration I got from them when the pandemic first hit: Bus Driver Appreciation Day: Coronavirus Style.A laundry list of things I've gained (erm, stolen!) from them: What I've Learned From Other Bus Drivers.Thank you, fellow operators, for being the inspiration you are. I'm doing it because it feels good to give. Because I'm not doing this for accolades. But even if there were no cards, I'd carry on just the same. I still have another card a youngster thrust in my hand on the 358 one afternoon nearly a decade ago. ![]() Recently I was handed a card and box of chocolates by a pedestrian who popped into my bus at a zone near her home. This is where small gestures accomplish multitudes. Because it's worth trying, out here on the gravel-stricken bottom-feeding world, the street-level restless night where nothing makes sense but you're kind anyway. I'm not always able to give out light as the colleagues I most look up to do, but I try. What greater, more richly romantic, elemental and vital act can I perform than driving up the block? Do you know what it is to build that with someone? You never see her again, but maybe that's the point. Her goodbye smile needs no words it's almost a shared secret. Respected, here on this bus by me, maybe more than other parts of her life. A young Latina mother's eyes smiling, realizing she is valued. Losing it laughing over jokes I don't remember. Smiling to myself at the construction guy standing in the back, bouncing slightly as he dances to a quiet boombox with his friend. It's in the camaraderie of talking to the person next to you, trundling together up Jackson Street. It's found in the eyes of the lost souls I gently steer toward a smile. But for me, the answer to those queries isn't found in an office, or even on a set or darkroom. Could you imagine that I have found something that gives me equal fulfillment to the heady thrill of directing a film? Printing in the darkroom, staging a shoot? Regularly it surpasses those thrills, if you can believe it, because as I age I find myself asking the question more intently: Where can I do the most good? What can I do for others?Įveryone's got a different answer, suited to their proclivities. I'd rather people who actually wanted those positions took them. The question is put to me often: Why don't you go supervision? Apply for chief? Rise up in the ranks? Speaking for myself, I do it with pleasure. We do this job with our sleeves rolled up. These are the true stewards of modern life, these caretakers who keep animated our rumbling metropolis, feeding the sleeping giant at odd and swinging hours, ever moving, without expecting much in return. Let's hope the powers that be are working at creating Grocer Appreciation Day, Wait Staff Appreciation Day, Laundromat, Flight Attendant, Security, Janitor, Dishwasher, Garbage Collector, HVAC, Nanny Appreciation and countless more. There's something endearingly old-school about it, and yet who can argue the value of its intent? With COVID upon us, there's ever more reason to be thankful. They can also give a shout-out to drivers on the OCCK Transportation page or use the hashtag #tdad.I love that they have an actual day for this. Riders can send compliments for a driver by calling 78 weekdays between 8 a.m. Santa Fe Ave., is currently adding on to their facility with a 16,000-square-foot expansion project to provide additional maintenance facilities, vehicle parking, and expanded driver areas. Over the years Stark has seen more buses and more bus routes added to accommodate the need for transportation. Usually, the busiest times for traffic is around lunchtime, when people are getting off of work around 4 p.m. "The worst part of being a driver is when people do not use their blinkers (turn signals). "The best part of being a bus driver is seeing the people I work with and the passengers," said Stark. "For those customers who don’t ride on March 18, a thank you or a card is welcome anytime."ĬityGo Bus Driver Paula Stark has worked as a driver since CityGo started 14 years ago. Most passengers give complement cards or just say thank you," said Michelle Griffin, Director of Mobility Management North Central Kansas Coordinated Transit District. "We do not ask that passengers give gifts to bus drivers, but we have had people bring cookies and goodies into the office for them. They chose March 18 because it was on that day in 1662 that bus service began in Paris. Hans Gerwitz and Shannon Thomas wrote a blog post that inspired the International Bus Driver Appreciation Day movement. National Bus Driver Appreciation Day was started by transit riders in Seattle in 2009.
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