Alex Heberling

I’m excited to announce that I’m now accepting art commissions.  Prices start at just $15, and if you’d like more information, please head on over to the commissions page of my website.

Instead of finishing my Connecticon post, I have some thoughts on buses.

Firstly, there’s a guy I’ve come to call Crazy Bus Guy.  The first time I encountered him was at the bus stop that’s right outside my window, when I was on my way to pick up my car from the mechanic the last time it pooped out on me.  He seemed to be muttering to himself and pacing around the sidewalk, and said “How ya doing?” when I first walked up next to him, then muttered and paced some more.  Then asked “How ya doing?” again.  When the bus actually came, he rode it just one stop forward, just around the corner from my building, and got off.

In the next weeks, I saw him periodically from my apartment at the bus stop, pacing and muttering, and even spotted him on one of the other routes I periodically ride.  Just yesterday he was on my bus ride home from work, and since it was crowded, I ended up sitting near him, and actually heard some of his muttering.  He was easily hitting 15 “fucks” per minute.  Gotta love the crazy bus people.  Aother female rider might have been creeped out by all his muttered ranting and swearing, I think the fact that I already knew he was just a crazy bus guy helped me ignore him.

On to my other thoughts on buses.

Around a month or more ago, I saw an article on bus-riding ettiquette in the Dispatch that I wish I could’ve embellished.  It’s a pet peeve of mine when people exit the front doors of the bus, since the buses I’ve known all my life prefer that passengers exit the back door.  Even if I’m sitting in the front of the bus (I prefer the back, specifically the first forward-facing seat after the rear doors or the corner seats in the very last row) I’ll exit the back unless it’s crowded and/or more sensical to go out the front.

I always wonder if it’s rude or dehumanizing to pull the cord to signal a stop if I’m the only passenger on the bus.  Would it be politer to ask the driver to stop myself, or does the driver not care?  Or do they really even notice that I’m the only person riding?  Being a decorated veteran of the service industry, I think about these things a lot, and just want to do what’s nicest for the drivers.

There’s a ton of construction going on involving sewers in the roads around my apartment building.  About two weeks ago, the street right in front of my regular bus stop was blocked off, and the driver asked me to go to the next forward stop until it cleared up.  (Which I’m doing.)  My return trip is also affected because when I disembark after coming home from work, I can’t cross the street for about a block in either direction, since the crosswalk is closed and the construction area has been slowly expanding as they make progress.  So I’ve been going in bigger and bigger circles of detours just to get home, as well.  I want my bus stop back!