Color in Training
During training, I met a few of the colorful people that make up the rider-ship. One thing I learned in a hurry, there’s a lot of people out there that just love to talk. As the driver, you might say, you are a captive audience. I also found out, the worst thing you can do with these people is to answer back to them. Their seeking of opinions and gratification for the choices they have made is endless, problem is, it takes your concentration off the more important matters at hand.
Colorful people doesn’t just mean the people who love to talk, there are also those who are just colorful. Take Virginia for example, a nice, well dressed woman of advancing years. She has no problem letting you or anyone else know which way the wind blows. As Virginia says, “I was born in Brooklyn, New York. I like to have a good stiff drink from time to time and I don’t take any crap from anybody!” She also feels very strongly that people should get dressed up every day and wear a nice hat. Virginia showed me the whistle she keeps around her neck. When she finds herself in a situation not of her liking, she blows the whistle to get attention and to keep “those rotten kids” in line.
If you want to get a groan of irritation from any of the drivers, simply mention the word “Pinky.” All the drivers know Pinky and they all have a story about her. I have no idea what her real name is but she is older, rude and always dresses in pink. You never see her without her “signature” two-wheeled shopping cart and it’s always overloaded. There is a story that circulates about Pinky and her cart, seems one day she was doing her usual of dragging her overloaded cart on and off the busses and snapping rude remarks towards the drivers. At one stop while trying to board, her cart got stuck between the bottom step and the curb. Turning a scowling look to the driver, she demanded the driver lower the front of the bus. The driver did just that, he let the air out of the front suspension and down went the front of the bus. Well, you can imagine what happened. The wheels on Pinky’s cart were squashed to oblivion! After several nasty letters and phone calls, one of the managers got so “fed-up” that he went out and bought Pinky a new cart out of his own pocket.
A passenger I like to have on my bus while driving Route 9, is “Princess Epic.” Her real name is Cathy but she was introduced to me as Princess Epic, so, that’s the way I remember her. The Princess boards on a “Disabled” pass as she has some physical limitations but watch out, she has a wit that could leave a politician speechless. Whenever Princess Epic boards my bus, she smiles and leans over to give me a big “one-armed” hug. Her job up at Epic Arena is to maintain the rental skates and to act as a kind of public relations specialist on anything related to Epic.
Copyright © 2009 Pokie Parmidge