The Everlasting Struggle Bus

In most cases patrons of public transportation are not memorable and do nothing out of the ordinary to create anything worth remembering. However, here in Seattle, there is a sizably larger minority of travelers compared to most other places who decide that there should be some drama getting off the bus. These individuals tend to fall into two groups.

The first group of individuals don't cause problems, but it's always interesting to watch. These group of people seem completely oblivious to the fact that there's a big red light and a bell sound that go off when someone has already requested the bus to stop at the next stop. This usually means they'll pull the cord about 10 times wondering why there is no bell sound going off, usually while they're sitting there looking at their phones while trying to shove themselves out of the window seat by basically stepping through the passenger in the aisle seat while carrying 2 bags.

The second group of passengers is where problems have previously arisen. These passengers are the ones who under almost no circumstance will pull the cord. I've even overheard riders brag to their friends about how long they have gone without having to pull the cord (as if that's some kind of achievement). These people are generally alright as long as someone else who actually pulls the cord gets off at the same stop. However if they're the only one who wants to get off the bus, then we start having problems. Some of them will pull the cord at the last second possible, which usually results in a swift stop and a strong lurch, and some will even get off at the next stop someone else requests. However, what peeves me the most is when passengers will call to the driver for a stop. There is already a mechanism in place for you to request a stop that's used by almost all the other passengers, and apparently some passengers feel that it's so below them that they will verbally request a stop like it is their private chauffeur. Public transportation is not there to serve you at your whim, but is there to serve the community as a whole. Last week I even saw a passenger scream at the driver to stop at a stop that wasn't requested and kept shouting at the driver as he got off the bus as if the driver should have known that he wanted the bus to stop there. Unfortunately this is a regular occurrence in traveling with King County Metro, and each trip always leaves open the opportunity for another unwanted adventure.