For all of you who kept us going during the pandemic.
Wheels squeaking and airbrakes chuffing, he eased the bus to a stop at the red light.
The empty bus.
For months now, since the pandemic came down, he had wheeled this behemoth around town with a paucity of riders. Understandable perhaps - people feared being cooped up in an enclosed space, masks notwithstanding – but he missed the riders, and the feeling of satisfaction he felt getting them where they needed to go. It was frustrating, discouraging, and…sad.
Early on, it seemed a lark, and he enjoyed a sense of freedom on the near-empty streets. But after a while he began to wonder when the passengers would return. People still had to get to work, right? Yet here he was, a year on, still driving an empty bus. It was bringing him down. He was an essential worker, yes, but he didn’t feel essential.
He began imagining schemes to entice people to ride the bus, like offering free cookies, or giving coloured markers to kids so they could draw on the plexiglass that closed off his driving station. Hanging piñatas down the aisle got him excited too, until he considered the swinging sticks in the narrow aisle.
For a day or two, desperate for some fares, he had pulled over every time he saw somebody walking in his direction and offered them a ride; he received a lot of strange looks, but no takers. He tried programming the destination/route sign to say things like “Free Lunch”, and “Salsa Dancing Classes”, and “Bring your Pet to Work Day” – still no takers. Thank God the inspectors hadn’t tumbled onto his actions – he didn’t need any unpaid leave!
He considered decking out his bus like the rolling parties he’d ridden in Mexico in his back-packing days, festooned with colourful tassels and cheek by jowl with passengers, luggage, and chickens. Surely riders would storm the bus if he rolled up in one of those, musical horn blaring “La Cucaracha”, right? Hey, even a few chickens would be ok.
Could he get more people on the bus if he wore a tuxedo? Or had a barker jump off at every stop to drum up some fares? Music! Maybe he needed music…or a dancing bear…or a juggler, no wait – a fire-eater! Good grief, where was his mind taking him?!
There had to be something he could do, anything to get some bodies on board…
“Hey, bus driver,” came a voice from the back of the bus, “green light!”
Startled, he suddenly remembered he did have a fare! Maybe things were looking up…
With a sigh masked by the gasp of air brakes being released, he slowly accelerated into the intersection.
Kevin Love, November 2021
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