The Art of Standing Up on a Bus
It’s Monday! The first real day of #viadoom (we all know Friday was a dry run) when 90,000 cars and 30,000 transit riders have to find a way not to use one of our major north-south routes in Seattle.
Having survived my first commute in, I have some advice for all of us bus riders. What are my qualifications? In the year I lived in Poland, I became an acute observer of bus behavior. Mostly because I was one of the lemmings throwing myself at the crowded back doors of a bus hoping I’d stick. Sure, sometimes my backpack would be wedged in the door and I’d have to hand my ticket over the heads of strangers to get it time-stamped, but the sheer number of people who could get where we were going all on one vehicle was astounding.
So buckle down because it may not be the best commute of your life for the next two weeks, but you have the power to make it better. For you and for everyone. Here’s how to make that happen.
Take off your backpack
In a crowded bus, your backpack takes up almost as much space as another human. If you take off your backpack, not only does that grateful human get to actually get on the bus (you have no idea how long they’ve been waiting for a bus that had enough space to actually stop), but you won’t be smacking other humans in the face with your pack. Doesn’t that make you happier?
The easiest and best thing to do with that bag is to stow it on the floor between your feet. More on your standing position in a moment.
Bend your knees
Bus rides can be a little…bumpy. And curvy. And unpredictable. If you keep your knees loose and your feet shoulder-width apart, you are in the perfect agile action pose to stay standing no matter what happens. The riders next to you thank you.
And by keeping those feet shoulder-width apart, you now have a nifty place to store your backpack. See?
Face forward
By standing facing the windows, you’re still taking up the space of two humans. See earlier note on the gratitude of people who can finally get on the bus because you adjusted your position a little. Our aisles are so narrow that you’ll still have a gorgeous view out either window. Did I mention you can now see out two sides of the bus?
Give up your seat
Few things in life gave me more pleasure than watching Polish grandmothers berate teens who were sitting when they should have been giving up their seats to the elderly. In Seattle, well, that would require talking to people.
You know if you need a seat. If you don’t, look up from that electronic device and peek around for someone who is elderly, disabled, pregnant, carrying three bags… Make their day by offering your seat. Insist when they politely decline. The good karma you’ll accrue…
Step out of the way
If you ride a commuter bus like I do, the people who are most tightly packed into the back corners of the bus and the articulated section are the ones who absolutely need out at the first stop. Help them and yourself by stepping out of the bus and out of their way so they can exit. Note: turning sideways and shoving the front part of you at seated passengers while shoving the back side of you into the aisle is not the same thing as getting out of the way.
No bus driver worth their salt is going to drive off and leave you once you’ve so courteously gotten out of the way. And look at all the seats that are now available…#heaven.
Stay positive
Exhale. You’re finally on a bus! That’s progress. You’re going to be late. I’m going to be late. The guy next to us is going to be late. We could start a riot or we could use one of those stalled moments in traffic to text/IM/email/Slack/tweet at our bosses (who are also running late) that we’ll be there as soon as humanly possible.
Then take a moment to be glad that your work is done. You will eventually get there. Small children will not die because you are late. Look out the window at the gorgeous weather we’re having, read your neighbor’s iPhone, daydream about your next vacation, or congratulate yourself for being part of the solution, because you got on a bus instead of into a car this morning.
Thank your driver
Your driver probably got up extra early this morning to make sure he or she wasn’t late so that you could have this bus ride. Since then, they’ve endured everything from innocent questions about where the last three buses went to ugly rants about… well, you can guess.
So instead of complaining at the person who did show up and is trying to do their best for you, say thank you.
While I don’t think our American sense of personal space will ever allow the kind of rider capacity I saw on Polish buses (nor do I really want it to), I do think this next two weeks will go a lot easier if we all work together just a little.
See you on the bus!
