WHAT SAY YOU ?: December 2008

For a few years now I have been riding the Frex bus from monument to the south end of Denver and then taking the RTD & Light rail to work from there. But, now with the price of gas being as low as it is, it’s cheaper for me to drive. But this is not a story about the price of gas, it is a story about the people I have observed while riding a bus.

If you want to know a little bit about the town or city you live in or are visiting try riding the public transportation. You can learn a lot about a place by just watching the type of people that ride a bus. The first people that I observed were the business types. These are the one that get on the bus or light rail and fire up the laptops and talk on the cell phone like they are trying to make the deal of a life time. They seem to not care one bit who here's them or see them using their laptops. They almost never speak to any one even if they are sitting right next to them.

Next are the Shoppers, these are the people that drag all kinds of stuff on to the bus thinking its a semi-truck, only to get upset when they find there is no room on the bus for their stuff. They are normally polite and say excuse me as they poke and ram their stuff into everyone as they try to find a seat. Unlike the business person they are very friendly and want to tell everyone about the great deals they got at the mall or the local store, they are also quick to tell you which ones to stay away from and why.

Next there is the Teen Scene type, these are made up mostly of young kids. some of these people are friendly and others just keep to them selves. A lot of times they get on the bus looking like I don’t know what. Some will wear pants down around their knees and some will wear ……. well not much. They will get on a bus and act like a wild person, Loud and doing anything to draw attention to them selves or as a group almost as if to say “look at how stupid I can be”. However, most of the ones I have observed have been polite and kept the noise down and did not do much to draw attention to them selves.

Next are the comedians. These types of people are normally very loud and full of jokes that are normally not very good. They always seem to want to try their jokes out on the whole bus and seem to be offended when their jokes don’t work. A lot of time the jokes are in bad taste.

Now comes the one group that I feel needs to be mentioned because they truly amaze me, and at time I have fallen into this group of people. These are what I call the Sleepers. These people really are something, they can sleep no matter what happens. the comedian type person could sit right next to them and they would still sleep soundly. You can always tell when someone is a sleeper, they get on the bus looking like they have been awake for the last 6 months or they are on their way home and they look like work just drained 6 month out of them. Sleepers are polite when they get on the bus at first, but they don’t like to have conversations because they would rather sleep. Here is one truly amazing fact about sleepers: No matter how a sleep they are they never miss their stop. Again these people really do amaze me.

Then there is the average Shmoe. Out of all of the people I have observed on the bus these people seem to be the friendliest of all. They are always very polite and willing to help others on the bus, and if you are willing to talk to them they are always willing to listen and share their story as well. They always seem to have a kind word even for a stranger. On one occasion I observed them pull together enough bus faire for some one who was short. These types of people always show their town or city in a good light.

In conclusion, In my time riding the bus between Monument and Denver, I have found that they are made up of a lot of different people. I found that the small towns in between are basically made up of the same type of people as any big city. Just because a town is not a city doesn't mean they don’t have any business people or shoppers. For the most part, towns and big city even, are made up of same people, some good and some bad. So if you want to know what kind of town or city you live in or are visiting, take a ride on the bus or train for that town or city, you might be surprised at the vast verity of people you will see and if you are lucky you might even make a new friend.