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So, apparently all the fun things happen while I'm not around. Apologies, but this is going to be long and possibly a little ranty, although I waited to post until I’d had some time to think about it.
A little background: I commute to work. In the (stupidly) early morning I snag the first commuter bus of the day and then ride the metro the rest of the way to work. Then in the evening I take the same path in reverse. Relevance: I catch the same bus driver in the morning and the evening, unless something causes me to miss the bus. (This is important.)
Last week was weird and for various reasons I was telecommuting the entire week, which is completely abnormal. Last week is when this happened, and I'm just this week getting this information. Why am I putting this here, you may wonder? Bus passenger complaint about the bus driver.
Apparently, one of the other passengers is “fed up” with [driver]'s behavior. This passenger sent in an email detailing everything that is wrong and evil about [driver] during both the morning and the evening rides. As an aside, [driver] is, honestly, my favorite bus driver. He's the only one who shows up early to let people on into the air conditioned/heated coach instead of forcing us all to stand around and wait for the scheduled time in scorching heat/rain/snow/etc. He can do this because the particular stops that the commuter bus has are out of the way of traffic and no other bus routes have the exact stops that this route has. Every regular commuter really likes [driver] for doing something like this, which he is in no way required to do. He does this for his first stop of the morning (the stop before mine) and the first stop of the evening. As a sort of relevant aside, his morning route is three stops, his evening route is four – commuter buses are “express.”
In the evenings, [driver] likes to stand outside of the bus as long as the weather's good. He knows his regulars and jokes with them, and he collects fares as the people get to him so they can just get in the coach and relax until it's time to leave. I get nauseous easily, even in a non-moving vehicle, so when I get there early I pay, put my stuff on the coach, and then step back off. He and I chat while he waits for his line run to officially start, and some days other people join him outside before getting on. [Driver]'s good about checking the time and herding everyone on in enough time to get settled in and pull out exactly when his run is supposed to start.
How do I know there was a complaint? I figured it out myself on Monday morning, because [driver]'s routine changed. I just let it be until evening, because I knew I could just ask him if I got there early enough. I did, and met up with some of the other regulars for the evening bus while still on the metro, and they filled me in a bit. But I waited to get the full story from [driver]. He kept the email that his bosses received and printed out to show him. All identifying information was removed, of course. He'd previously showed it to other regulars of his who asked about what was up and he didn't mind showing it to me, either.
So, what's the problem? Well, the first paragraph I could accept as a legitimate complaint. [Driver]'s being doing the line runs for a long time and, since the morning line run is literally the first run of the day, the people who are actually going to catch the bus are already at the stop by the time he pulls up. So, previously, he'd pull in, collect everyone, pause for a moment to check the cars that had just pulled into the commuter lot for any people who looked to be frantically trying to get to the bus, but if no car had pulled in just before/after he got to the stop, and/or no one was trying to get to the bus, he'd close the doors and leave. Sometimes this means, if traffic was good, he'd leave the stop three minutes early. Fine, this is a legitimate complaint to me, I'll accept that. At first.
That was the first paragraph. The second and third paragraphs, however, made me believe that whoever had sent the email was a bitter, sad person. Why? The second and third paragraphs were a dissertation on, basically, how [driver] should not have a life outside of driving buses. Remember, I said that [driver] was being kind by showing up at the first stop in the mornings and evenings early and allowing people to get on the bus. Technically, he's still on his own time before his run starts, and he could be wherever he wants to be. He chooses to be nice and sit around the stop, letting everyone on as they arrive. The complainer felt the need to express distaste for the fact that [driver] "always" stands around outside the bus in the mornings and evenings "chatting with this girl [aka me]." Which is fascinating, because I don’t get on in the mornings until the second stop, so I can’t stand around chatting with [driver]; in the morning, I get on, deal with fare, tell him “good morning,” and get out of the way so we can move out quickly and get to work as soon as possible.
The first paragraph was five sentences. The next two paragraphs were half a page and this was all that was talked about. Pretty much the only verb used during these two paragraphs was some form of “chat.” The summation at the end is really what made me stop believing that the first paragraph should hold any real weight. [Driver] is early leaving in the mornings, gets us to the metro early, so we can get to work early, and leaves in the evenings precisely on time. The summation of all that was wrong ended with a demand that [driver] "respect OTHER people's time and not waste it." ...
Think about that for a second. He gets us up to the metro early and leaves exactly on time. How, exactly, is he wasting everyone's time?
Bonus to this complaint is the fact that I actually had to read the first sentences multiple times because the complainer didn’t bother to spellcheck/grammar check/anything check. It took me a few reads to realize that “leave” is now apparently spelled “live,” and then there was the fact that boarding was spelled incorrectly among a plethora of other fun things. It’s my feeling that, if you seriously plan on sending a letter to a corporate entity, you should take the time to not look like a twit before you do so. I have this thing called a dictionary, and if I don’t know how to spell a word, I’ll magically figure it out with a little help from the big book before I even think about sending out something other people will be reading. But that’s just me.
Another thing about this that bothered me a bit after I thought about it is that this person specifically mentioned me, and made no reference to the other people who talk to [driver]. So that means that someone has decided that their evening pastime is to stare at [driver] and me while waiting for the run to start. That’s clearly not creepy at all.
It just frustrates me that someone would expend so much energy to get [driver] into trouble because he talks to his passengers when he’s not driving the bus. And I have to assume that that was the real issue, not the early leave time in the morning, or the early leave time would have been emphasized more. The good news about it is that so many of his regulars were offended on his behalf, because pretty much everyone loves [driver], that he didn’t really get into much trouble because of the flood of “[driver] is awesome” emails that came in. His bosses listened to his explanation of what “chatting” occurred, and they told him that what he did on his own time was his own business, so long as he did his runs on time. He did get chastised for leaving early in the morning, but everything else in that letter was dismissed. And, apparently, that flood of emails just letting his bosses know that he’s a favorite driver was so massive that the powers that be have started just throwing out anything that has anything to do with [driver] because they’re sick of looking at them.
I’m going to wait for a month or so to send in my own email about how great at customer service he is, just to give time enough for this to blow over so that the powers that be will read it. I’m not mentioning this situation whatsoever. I just think [driver] deserves the praise for what he has to put up with.
A little background: I commute to work. In the (stupidly) early morning I snag the first commuter bus of the day and then ride the metro the rest of the way to work. Then in the evening I take the same path in reverse. Relevance: I catch the same bus driver in the morning and the evening, unless something causes me to miss the bus. (This is important.)
Last week was weird and for various reasons I was telecommuting the entire week, which is completely abnormal. Last week is when this happened, and I'm just this week getting this information. Why am I putting this here, you may wonder? Bus passenger complaint about the bus driver.
Apparently, one of the other passengers is “fed up” with [driver]'s behavior. This passenger sent in an email detailing everything that is wrong and evil about [driver] during both the morning and the evening rides. As an aside, [driver] is, honestly, my favorite bus driver. He's the only one who shows up early to let people on into the air conditioned/heated coach instead of forcing us all to stand around and wait for the scheduled time in scorching heat/rain/snow/etc. He can do this because the particular stops that the commuter bus has are out of the way of traffic and no other bus routes have the exact stops that this route has. Every regular commuter really likes [driver] for doing something like this, which he is in no way required to do. He does this for his first stop of the morning (the stop before mine) and the first stop of the evening. As a sort of relevant aside, his morning route is three stops, his evening route is four – commuter buses are “express.”
In the evenings, [driver] likes to stand outside of the bus as long as the weather's good. He knows his regulars and jokes with them, and he collects fares as the people get to him so they can just get in the coach and relax until it's time to leave. I get nauseous easily, even in a non-moving vehicle, so when I get there early I pay, put my stuff on the coach, and then step back off. He and I chat while he waits for his line run to officially start, and some days other people join him outside before getting on. [Driver]'s good about checking the time and herding everyone on in enough time to get settled in and pull out exactly when his run is supposed to start.
How do I know there was a complaint? I figured it out myself on Monday morning, because [driver]'s routine changed. I just let it be until evening, because I knew I could just ask him if I got there early enough. I did, and met up with some of the other regulars for the evening bus while still on the metro, and they filled me in a bit. But I waited to get the full story from [driver]. He kept the email that his bosses received and printed out to show him. All identifying information was removed, of course. He'd previously showed it to other regulars of his who asked about what was up and he didn't mind showing it to me, either.
So, what's the problem? Well, the first paragraph I could accept as a legitimate complaint. [Driver]'s being doing the line runs for a long time and, since the morning line run is literally the first run of the day, the people who are actually going to catch the bus are already at the stop by the time he pulls up. So, previously, he'd pull in, collect everyone, pause for a moment to check the cars that had just pulled into the commuter lot for any people who looked to be frantically trying to get to the bus, but if no car had pulled in just before/after he got to the stop, and/or no one was trying to get to the bus, he'd close the doors and leave. Sometimes this means, if traffic was good, he'd leave the stop three minutes early. Fine, this is a legitimate complaint to me, I'll accept that. At first.
That was the first paragraph. The second and third paragraphs, however, made me believe that whoever had sent the email was a bitter, sad person. Why? The second and third paragraphs were a dissertation on, basically, how [driver] should not have a life outside of driving buses. Remember, I said that [driver] was being kind by showing up at the first stop in the mornings and evenings early and allowing people to get on the bus. Technically, he's still on his own time before his run starts, and he could be wherever he wants to be. He chooses to be nice and sit around the stop, letting everyone on as they arrive. The complainer felt the need to express distaste for the fact that [driver] "always" stands around outside the bus in the mornings and evenings "chatting with this girl [aka me]." Which is fascinating, because I don’t get on in the mornings until the second stop, so I can’t stand around chatting with [driver]; in the morning, I get on, deal with fare, tell him “good morning,” and get out of the way so we can move out quickly and get to work as soon as possible.
The first paragraph was five sentences. The next two paragraphs were half a page and this was all that was talked about. Pretty much the only verb used during these two paragraphs was some form of “chat.” The summation at the end is really what made me stop believing that the first paragraph should hold any real weight. [Driver] is early leaving in the mornings, gets us to the metro early, so we can get to work early, and leaves in the evenings precisely on time. The summation of all that was wrong ended with a demand that [driver] "respect OTHER people's time and not waste it." ...
Think about that for a second. He gets us up to the metro early and leaves exactly on time. How, exactly, is he wasting everyone's time?Bonus to this complaint is the fact that I actually had to read the first sentences multiple times because the complainer didn’t bother to spellcheck/grammar check/anything check. It took me a few reads to realize that “leave” is now apparently spelled “live,” and then there was the fact that boarding was spelled incorrectly among a plethora of other fun things. It’s my feeling that, if you seriously plan on sending a letter to a corporate entity, you should take the time to not look like a twit before you do so. I have this thing called a dictionary, and if I don’t know how to spell a word, I’ll magically figure it out with a little help from the big book before I even think about sending out something other people will be reading. But that’s just me.
Another thing about this that bothered me a bit after I thought about it is that this person specifically mentioned me, and made no reference to the other people who talk to [driver]. So that means that someone has decided that their evening pastime is to stare at [driver] and me while waiting for the run to start. That’s clearly not creepy at all.
It just frustrates me that someone would expend so much energy to get [driver] into trouble because he talks to his passengers when he’s not driving the bus. And I have to assume that that was the real issue, not the early leave time in the morning, or the early leave time would have been emphasized more. The good news about it is that so many of his regulars were offended on his behalf, because pretty much everyone loves [driver], that he didn’t really get into much trouble because of the flood of “[driver] is awesome” emails that came in. His bosses listened to his explanation of what “chatting” occurred, and they told him that what he did on his own time was his own business, so long as he did his runs on time. He did get chastised for leaving early in the morning, but everything else in that letter was dismissed. And, apparently, that flood of emails just letting his bosses know that he’s a favorite driver was so massive that the powers that be have started just throwing out anything that has anything to do with [driver] because they’re sick of looking at them.
I’m going to wait for a month or so to send in my own email about how great at customer service he is, just to give time enough for this to blow over so that the powers that be will read it. I’m not mentioning this situation whatsoever. I just think [driver] deserves the praise for what he has to put up with.
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