An open letter. . .

to the driver of the 117 bus, 8:35 a.m., Condor Street Stop:

Dear Driver,

You sir are a prince among men. There we were. Three lowly bus riders, huddled in the snow drift that used to be our bus stop. You had to stop at the red light directly in front of our bus stop. You could have taken pity on the poor shivering souls standing in the snow, directly outside your bus door. But, no! You are a man who knows the rules and follows those rules to the letter.
The 117 is supposed to be an express bus from Bellingham Square to Maverick Station and gosh-darnit you were going to go express. It doesn't matter that other 117 drivers often stop and pick up East Boston passengers in the morning. Those drivers are obviously unable to follow the rules. It doesn't matter that you were stopped at the red light in exactly the spot you would have stopped in had you been picking up passengers. You, sir, stood your ground, refusing to even look at the bus-riding peasants standing outside your bus door. When you firmly gestured behind you with your thumb at the non-existant 114 bus, you showed us who was in control. You must have been truly annoyed when you had to stop at the next bus stop up the street and pick up passengers. Did some poor soul actually have the temerity to have to get off the bus, forcing you to stop and foiling your attempts at "express-ness." Yes, it's sad that the best laid plans of mice and bus drivers often do go awry.

For your unflinching dedication to the rules, on behalf of T riders everywhere, I salute you and I say F--you. F--you very much.

Sincerely,
Marilora

Note: I just want to say that there are awesome bus drivers out there. I've seen some go above and beyond by stoping where there wasn't even a stop for an elderly passenger, or waiting when they see a person crossing the street toward the bus. But, I feel that this particular bus driver was just being plain mean since he was stopped anyway. Also, his refusal to even look at us standing outside the bus was particularly insulting.

Update: One of my fellow passengers called the T to make a complaint against this driver. The person she spoke to her said that the driver had no cause to be that rude to us--as long as there was not a safety issue involved. The customer service person said that the problem would be addressed. She found out later from some other T employees that the word on the street was that this driver was sent to customer service school for some re-training, because he has had several complaints against him. So, the moral of the story is that some times the system actually does work. I think my rant was more cathartic, though.