Wow, I'm sorry you had to go through that. Here's a de-escalation technique that I've used in similar situations that sometimes works. Whatever the agressors beef is, I say this: "Dude, I've got a serious question for you. What's your favorite dinosaur?" This total non-sequiter often throws a person out of their immediate rage cycle. A lot of times I get a "why the fuck do you want to know that?" and I meekly say, "I'm curious, I ask everybody that." This gets the initial rager thinking that I'm crazy (but non-confrontational) and often they answer by naming a dinosaur. Whatever they say, I respond with "That's a good one" and say "Mine's a pteranodon, 'cause they could fly." In a situation like a crowded bus, you can get the whole crowd discussing dinosaurs sometimes.
Such is life on the Santa Cruz bus line. A friend of mine back in the 80s was a Santa Cruz bus driver. Boy, did he have tales to tell. Every day! Good thing (or maybe not) he was a concert pianist who could escape to his piano. The tragedy there is that he was a concert pianist making a living as a bus driver on a Santa Cruz bus. Sharron, you will have endless inspiration for stories. I can't wait to read them.
I stopped riding public transportation when COVID hit. Occurrences like this are why. I imagine things have gotten even worse in every city. Things like this don’t make the nightly news, but they can ruin one’s day.
My little town has no busses, no taxis, no uber. Sounds like that's a good thing. Take your own car or bike or walk. Its 4 miles to town and 5 miles to the other side. Stay home if there's 2foot snow.
That DID sound a bit like school bus back in the 50s.
Yikes, mobile psych ward is right! Aye, I m sorry you had to experience that on your first day, good decision to get off as soon as you could. The upside, maybe, is you will have some good fodder to write about. :)
I love the line “I feel like I am locked in a mobile psych ward”!😍 Uncharacteristically I’m feeling Pollyanna-ish reading this, because I kept hoping someone on the bus with a “Love is always the answer” mindset would casually go up to one of the men and then the other, and unobtrusively hand each one a twenty dollar bill and say, “You’re having a hard day, buy yourself a treat, an ice cream cone solves everything.” Or am I the crazy one 😅
Welcome to the public jungle, where broken lives have only cursing to ease their situation and is but a short step away from violence. That's a big step going car free, Sharron. You don't need a prescription for cannabis anymore... : )
Things like this happen in Canada as well. There was one case where a similar situation ended in murder because one of the men had a machete and cut the other guy's head off...
No situation like this has happened when I have used the bus, but I tend to use it during the day. It's usually during the night that anything similar to this happens.
Wow! You are brave! Your story reminds me of confrontations in high school where the two facing off were on the brink of getting physical and didn't want to get there, so they resorted to verbal abuse. Also, you should be able to get cannabis without a prescription.
Oooooh man, I'm so sorry this was your FIRST day!!! Talk about regretting life choices! That experience is unreal, I would have gotten off many stops before you did. I'd have been way too afraid of what might have developed.
Wow, I'm sorry you had to go through that. Here's a de-escalation technique that I've used in similar situations that sometimes works. Whatever the agressors beef is, I say this: "Dude, I've got a serious question for you. What's your favorite dinosaur?" This total non-sequiter often throws a person out of their immediate rage cycle. A lot of times I get a "why the fuck do you want to know that?" and I meekly say, "I'm curious, I ask everybody that." This gets the initial rager thinking that I'm crazy (but non-confrontational) and often they answer by naming a dinosaur. Whatever they say, I respond with "That's a good one" and say "Mine's a pteranodon, 'cause they could fly." In a situation like a crowded bus, you can get the whole crowd discussing dinosaurs sometimes.
Welcome to the world of public transit.
Good grief. That's a lesson. I was hoping for a solution to people who are irrational and explosive. But no. I wish there was a tool or a magic word.
Such is life on the Santa Cruz bus line. A friend of mine back in the 80s was a Santa Cruz bus driver. Boy, did he have tales to tell. Every day! Good thing (or maybe not) he was a concert pianist who could escape to his piano. The tragedy there is that he was a concert pianist making a living as a bus driver on a Santa Cruz bus. Sharron, you will have endless inspiration for stories. I can't wait to read them.
I stopped riding public transportation when COVID hit. Occurrences like this are why. I imagine things have gotten even worse in every city. Things like this don’t make the nightly news, but they can ruin one’s day.
My little town has no busses, no taxis, no uber. Sounds like that's a good thing. Take your own car or bike or walk. Its 4 miles to town and 5 miles to the other side. Stay home if there's 2foot snow.
That DID sound a bit like school bus back in the 50s.
Oh, please call us to see if we are free to drive you next time, Sharron! This was horrific!
Yikes, mobile psych ward is right! Aye, I m sorry you had to experience that on your first day, good decision to get off as soon as you could. The upside, maybe, is you will have some good fodder to write about. :)
Yeah without the language, there’s no story. Glad I am several hundred miles away from riding NYC transit.
I wonder what the motivation of the dirty T-shirt guy was. Was he trying to be the hero? Or was he just another angry person looking for trouble?
I love the line “I feel like I am locked in a mobile psych ward”!😍 Uncharacteristically I’m feeling Pollyanna-ish reading this, because I kept hoping someone on the bus with a “Love is always the answer” mindset would casually go up to one of the men and then the other, and unobtrusively hand each one a twenty dollar bill and say, “You’re having a hard day, buy yourself a treat, an ice cream cone solves everything.” Or am I the crazy one 😅
Welcome to the public jungle, where broken lives have only cursing to ease their situation and is but a short step away from violence. That's a big step going car free, Sharron. You don't need a prescription for cannabis anymore... : )
Things like this happen in Canada as well. There was one case where a similar situation ended in murder because one of the men had a machete and cut the other guy's head off...
No situation like this has happened when I have used the bus, but I tend to use it during the day. It's usually during the night that anything similar to this happens.
Wow! You are brave! Your story reminds me of confrontations in high school where the two facing off were on the brink of getting physical and didn't want to get there, so they resorted to verbal abuse. Also, you should be able to get cannabis without a prescription.
It is. Winnipeg murders typically tend to be simple stabbings.
Oooooh man, I'm so sorry this was your FIRST day!!! Talk about regretting life choices! That experience is unreal, I would have gotten off many stops before you did. I'd have been way too afraid of what might have developed.