No Soup For YOU!

I'm doing a run (route) that has mostly "regulars" in the am.
I see the same folks every morning, they all sit in the same seats, next to the same people.
As I've mentioned before, that's good for both of us - I know to wait for you if you're a minute late.
But don't be late!


LOL


So we stop at a stop that's usually empty and a Young Lady gets on the already full bus.
She opens her purse to pull out wads of cash, all large bills.
Puts some loose change in the farebox ($1.32) and tells me, "That's all I have, will that be enough?"


I asked her how far she was going and she told me that she was going to the other end of the route, across town.
I said, "That's not enough to pay for the gas to get you to the end of the block!"
Her jaw dropped.


After about three seconds of silence the front rows of the bus broke out laughing and once the Young Lady realized it was a joke, she started laughing too.
I explained that I couldn't give her a transfer or a free ride as I pointed to the sign above my head.
She grabbed a seat and we all started our morning in a good mood.


The regulars know I'm super polite and formal/proper and that I was joking because it was completely out of character for me.
Drivers work for YOU, the passenger.
We're not fare nazis, we educate (tell you how much) and accommodate by giving you a lift to where you need to go.
That doesn't mean we're allowed or supposed to give out a bus full of free rides.
And I've already experienced my first ticket.


A guy snuck in through the back door and I tried talking to him but he pulled his hoodie over his head and ignored me.
I'm not to engage or berate passengers, just to educate (Hey Sir, that's $2, please) and accommodate (You can make it up next time...) so I got back in the driver's seat, recorded the fare skip (we have buttons on our radios to document fare dodgers) and I went about the route.
A guy sitting behind me stood up, opened his coat and showed his badge to the guy in the back, asked me to pull over and wrote the passenger a ticket for $100.


OH SNAP!
I hadn't even known there was a fare inspector on my bus.


So no, I'm not a fare nazi.
You won't hear me saying, "NO RIDE FOR YOU!"
But you do ride without paying at your own risk.
And that's not just something I'm taught to say, I've seen the risk of not paying.


And that Young Lady earlier in this story?
She got back on the bus a week later and paid twice as much as she needed to.
That's pretty cool if you ask me.
She's now a regular.


Welcome aboard, find your seats - Let's Roll!