Bus Drivers

Bus Ride with Lots of Friends Amid Covid19

by Thomas Hansen, Ph.D.

It is Saturday, June 20, 2020, and I am riding the Broadway 36 bus.  I have gotten on far north, and am headed south.  When we reach Foster, the CTA driver hands over bus #1383 to the new driver.  It is 12:23 PM.  There are 26 people on the bus.  Two of them are not wearing masks.

The new driver boards the bus – wearing no mask  -- and proceeds south on Broadway, picking up additional passengers at most every stop.  By the time the bus reaches Argyle, it is carrying 29 passengers.  On this ride, each time we stop, a few more people board.  Sometimes a few exit, also.

At 12:27, a large argument breaks up toward the front of the bus.  The topic is the number of people riding on #1383.  There are 4 people with no mask on – plus the driver.  One of the 4 is a young man who has taken his mask off once the argument begins.

Some are clearly disgusted there are so many passengers on the bus.  They talk about death, risk, pandemics, responsibility, craziness, confusion, and ignorance.  Others defend the driver, saying the virus is not that deadly, there is no pandemic, the government is trying to control us, and all people have a right to ride the bus.      

The language being used in the argument is not suited for children.  However, there are some children present, and they are hearing the words being used.  One little girl – whose father is against so many passengers being on the bus – screams she is afraid “the bus will explode because there are too many people on it.”  

There are 2 people on the bus with walkers, at the very front.  Another person with a walker boards the bus.  The driver takes down the rope to the COVID-no passenger-sign area near him and does not put it back up.  The bus is now at Lawrence, and there are 30 passengers.

The argument has gotten very loud, and one of the most vocal persons, who claims the establishment is trying to control our lives, explains how “the man” wants to kill us and has told CTA drivers to put as many passengers on the bus as will fit.  The bus is running full.

By the time the bus reaches Wilson, there are 32 passengers.  People are cramped, and a young couple enters through the front door instead of the back.  They stand in the area where people are not supposed to stand – there is no room.  The gentleman has a bicycle.  He presumably does not have a disability.  The woman with him talks loudly on a cellphone when she boards.  She does so as they ride, and she is still doing so when they get off the bus at Buena Park.

A woman with a stroller carrying a young child enters through the front door, despite the high number of passengers.  They board, and they keep the total at 32 passengers.

                                  

A couple of us exit at Waveland.  I am talking with the other two passengers.  I go up to the front to look in the bus at the driver.  He is still not wearing a mask.  He glares at me as I look at his sleeve and see what looks like the number 40508.