Reader report: “Commendation for bus riders and driver”

That’s the subject line on this note just out of the WSB inbox, from Marco:

Just got off the 21 bus in Downtown. In West Seattle a youth thought he had to entertain the back of the bus with loud music from his speakers. Of course, he turned it down every time the bus stopped, so the driver wouldn’t hear.

After we crossed the bridge a lady doing crosswords finally had enough and asked him to use headphones instead. But she was ignored, so a male passenger tapped the guy’s shoulder and ask him to turn it down.

Now the ‘musician’ was ready to pick a fight, because somebody touched him and two of his friends were quick to show support, shouting obscenities and threats, while other passengers announces solidarity with the ‘tapper’.

Eventually, the bus driver heard the commotion at the end of the bus and announced with good humor that he would stay at the bus stop and call somebody to mediate. Faced with a delay and a possible run-in with the authorities the ‘music-gang’ left the bus, under cheerful good-byes from the rest of the passengers.

I just want to say thank you to everybody that kept cool and a bus driver that skillfully defused the situation. I really appreciate having no violence on my Monday morning commute ;)

B September 8, 2008 (11:04 am)

Good for that guy and the others for standing up to them!

Elizabeth Carpenter September 8, 2008 (11:50 am)

Yay!
How rare – usually passengers leave others to their fate. I ride the #36, #14 & #7 and we have many an unpleasant ride with loud, unpleasant, threatening folk and no one stands up to them and certainly not the drivers.
Kudos to all involved!

old timer September 8, 2008 (11:57 am)

$10,000 to the first person who can make a portable, concealable device that, with the click of it’s button, will fry the internal electronic circuits of anything it’s directed at.
Radios, cellphones, boombox cars – POOF!
Blessed silence.

Kayleigh September 8, 2008 (12:47 pm)

Yanno, I think loud music is one of the least of the problems on Metro buses, and not one I would cause a fuss about.

How about the smells…and the general dirtiness…and reckless bus drivers….and the frequent lateness…and the overcrowding…

Diane September 8, 2008 (12:49 pm)

re: portable, concealable device that, with the click of it’s button, will fry the internal electronic circuits of anything it’s directed at.
Radios, cellphones, boombox cars – POOF!
~
pretty sure these already exist, at least to turn off said devices
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I’ve had the same dream for years; then saw a news program this past year on devices that can be purchased on the web to do just this
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and of course they were debating the ethics/legality of using these devices, even for business owners

Diane September 8, 2008 (12:53 pm)

depending on my mood on the bus, I’m either humored by all the folks plugged in to cell phones/music/whatever and cutting themselves off from connection with others
~
or
~
I get very frustrated; really miss the days when you could spark up interesting conversations with folks in public

WSratsinacage September 8, 2008 (1:17 pm)

Glad these punks got kicked to tha curb. C ya Homies. Peace out B’s.

WSratsinacage September 8, 2008 (1:19 pm)

“Now get ya shinebox!”

MAS September 8, 2008 (1:51 pm)

Dianne – The things you are talking about are for televisions with infrared remotes, not boomboxes (though some boomboxes do have infrared remotes, I haven’t yet seen an “all off” aimed at that relatively small market.)

What old timer is looking for is a small, highly directional and range limited electromagnetic pulse device, which would literally cook off some of the circuits in the device, even if it doesn’t have a remote shut-off. I haven’t looked into the legality of portable EMPs, but would caution folks that unless you’re using a parabolic focusing device, it would be likely to fry lots of stuff you didn’t intend (like the pacemaker of the guy next to the jerk with the tunes…)

A better method would be to induce resonant feedback into their speakers with an active system that samples and amplifies a phase shifted signal (ala this excellent xkcd cartoon: http://xkcd.com/368/)

Jaime Gummer September 8, 2008 (2:08 pm)

Diane: You may be thinking of a RF jamming device for cellular telephones.
.
Kayleigh: Ya know, there probably was a way to articulate what irks you about the bus without minimizing what irks others.
.
WSratsinacage: LOL

JumboJim September 8, 2008 (2:36 pm)

Brilliant move by the bus driver. I’m sure it confused the “musician” as much as scared him…

WSMom September 8, 2008 (3:11 pm)

Kayleigh has a point though, oh the smell, the smell….ugh

Rick September 8, 2008 (3:22 pm)

Sounds like somebody needs Mama to wipe their nose and kick their butt! Punks and bullies are alike, when confronted they usually turn back into the children they are.

austin September 8, 2008 (3:52 pm)

Always the interesting stuff happens when I’m not on the bus. :(

BB September 8, 2008 (5:18 pm)

I think that most people don’t speak up for fear of reprisals. I say respectfully stand together against this kind of disrespectable behavior, and the numbers will win out. If we don’t, the next bus fare increase will have to cover metal detectors at the door, and buss marshals in the back. Can’t we all just get along?

Kayleigh September 8, 2008 (5:53 pm)

Jamie, there’s probably a way to post without telling other people how to post.

I have been barfed on, hit on, fallen on, and coughed on. I’ve seen drug deals, people putting prescription cream on their infectious skin, people eating (dear God–the germs), drunk people, high people, people bragging they just got out of prison, people drinking methadone, people on their way to the mental health center who are clearly mentally ill…

and that’s just on an average day.

Come ride the 11 with me. Or worse, the 3/4.

paul September 8, 2008 (6:59 pm)

I miss taking the bus! Really I do. Now if you want a cool bus ride, take the 174 or 194 about 3 am to the airport! I used to commute to DC every 2-3 weeks and always took that 3 AM bus. Wow did I have fun!

chas redmond September 8, 2008 (10:05 pm)

Kayleigh, the 85 (night owl 21/22) is very similar to the 3/4 – which I ride enough to sympathize. Even the late-mid-day 22’s can be interesting – either direction. But, buses are both the yin and the yang of the society they’re serving. I really like that element – even if it offends, bothers, makes uncomfortable, causes great pathos or what. Buses are circus. Part of that is caused, no doubt, by the very vibrations, jumps, jolts, fumes from the motor or traffic, and noises from the gears, the brakes, the door, the lift mechanism, the odd calls from Metro central and the rest of the rolling environment. In that kind of environment, one escapes or plays class clown or parades one’s latest – and why not. It’s a rolling, rambling cage of strangers all paying to get somewhere. Actually, it’s more like the Twilight Zone, but that’s cool, too.

BB September 9, 2008 (8:21 am)

Chas, sounds like a good idea for my next book. Or maybe a prime time survivor series, only that the winner is the one who gets to work alive with his latte still inside his cup. I’m going to get on the same bus Bruce Willis rides! Yeah, that’s the ticket!