Not only did he serenade his riders with standards by the likes of Dean Martin and Nat King Cole, and call out his stops with humor (as we approached Normal Avenue near Los Angeles City College, he quipped, "Normal...as though any of us are!") and class, but his totally awesome disposition brightens up the bus-riding experience and sends departing passengers off on a positive note. The Militant thinks he deserves much credit, and unlike others who have been on his bus, he doesn't think he's crazy at all (you know we're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy...). Sure beats those automated pre-recorded stop calls!
Even if you're not into singing bus drivers, you got to admit that there's far, far, far worse music to be heard on our transit system.
As the Militant got off on his unspecified stop, he gave the driver props on his singing, and Mr. 29688 gave the Militant the biggest smile. A simple song can work wonders, folks.
Note to any Metro personnel reading this: Please, please, pleeeeease do not reprimand this guy. He's doing an awesome job, lifting up the spirits of his riders. Some of the riders even sing along to his crooning. Would you rather have drivers like this? If anything, he deserves some sort of recognition or reward.
When I lived in NYC there was a woman conductor on the 6 subway line who sang the station names. Now the trains use a pre-recorded voice. Phooey.
ReplyDeleteIt seems the bus driver you recorded and the "crazy" bus driver are the same man. Check the badge numbers (watch the videos in high definition). These people make my day.
ReplyDeletesoledadenmasa: Oh yes, the Militant is aware he's the same guy; he just meant to say he's not "crazy" but actually going above and beyond the call of duty in making the passengers' experience as pleasant as possible.
ReplyDeleteI once had a "crazy" aka cool bus driver on Soto that pulled over randomly in front of a Budweiser truck and asked the Bud man if he could spare a few cases because the people on the bus could sure use a beer! Of course, the fool didn't want to share but it still made almost everyone laugh and a round of applause went up. She definitely made my day.
ReplyDeleteI prefer it when bus drivers get a bit creative, humorous, and human as a way to deal with what I assume is a stressful job. I'll take them over the misanthropic, miserabalist, negative drivers that are much more readily found.