customer service thumbs up!

As you know, if you've been paying any attention whatsoever, I am a frequent rider of the MBTA. From the prison bus to the Green Line (where no one will move into the fucking train) to the hoity-toity commuter rail (ha!), I travel it all. And thus, I am extremely well versed with T employees. Much like humanity in general, they come in many flavors. Some are complete douchebags. Others, while not strictly assholes, wish to expend the least amount of effort possible and still get a paycheck. Then there are those who are absolutely lovely, pleasant, helpful, and kind, reaping good karma by the bucketload.

Let me tell you about the prison bus driver yesterday. A young man, walking, and not at a bus stop, saw the bus and waved, if not frantically, at least enthusiastically at it. Our bus driver saw and pulled over (not at a bus stop!) and waited for the kid to jog up. That's good deed number one. Many, many T drivers will not pick you up unless you are exactly in the bus stop. I have in fact been on a bus stopped at a traffic light 30 feet up from the bus stop and had the driver refuse to let on an erstwhile passenger who came running up and knocking on the closed doors. That little maneuver, my friends, is called "being a douchebag, squared."

Anyway, back to our story. The young man boarding the bus, it soon became apparent, knew only a very few words of English. The bus driver (good deed number two) tried to make sure the kid knew what bus he was getting on, and that it was the one he wanted. Many, many T drivers could really give a shit if the passenger doesn't know where they're going or how to get there. If you don't know what bus to take or what stop to get off at, too bad. All this kid could say was "Stop and Shop" and did not appear to understand the driver's explanation that the prison bus turns before that and therefore would not take him very close.

Now another kind person enters the mix. Another young man, sitting near the front and bilingual, starts translating (good deed number one for him) and between he and the bus driver figure out and explain to the kid what bus it is that he needs and what bus stop the driver is going to let him off at so he can wait for it. Good deeds numbers two and three, respectively. Meanwhile, the bus driver does not let the kid pay, because he doesn't have a Charlie card and if he boards the other bus, he'd have to pay twice. Good deed number four.

We reach the stop where the kid is to get off and wait for the next bus, and he thanks the other kid who translated and then shakes the bus driver's hand gratefully. He is obviously very happy and appreciative that someone bothered to try to help him (thank god he's here, not Arizona, yo), and even if he doesn't wait for the next bus and keeps walking, he's at least 3/4ths of a mile closer than he was before.

And now the capper. When he's off the bus, the driver turns around and says to the other kid, "Hey, man, thanks so much for your help. I really appreciate it." Good deed number five. Are we warm and fuzzy yet?

I want that bus driver's mom's phone number so I can call her up and tell her what a good job she did.

xoxo