10 posts tagged “bus”
On the bus this morning, a few high school students were trying to figure out the length of the diagonal of a square. One of them declared that the diagonal was the same as the side of the square (4), because 4^2 + 4^2 = 16... oh, wait, no, it doesn't. I already figured out that the diagonal would be the square root of 32.
I miss the days of algebra, where things were easier. Equilateral triangles had 3 equal sides, Isosceles triangles had 2 equal sides, and a right triangle had a right angle. SOHCAHTOA meant Sine=Opposite/Hypotenuse, Cosine=Adjacent/Hypotenuse and Tangent=Opposite/Adjacent. And then you had those other three: Cotagent, something and something else.
Pythagorean theorem is a^2 + b^2 = c^2. The area of a rectangle is length x width. The area of a circle is pi x r^2. The radius of a circle is a distance from the center of the circle to any point on the circle and the diameter was twice the radius.
A line was the shortest distance between two points. Solve for x, and show all your work.
I miss all of that... not just because I was good at math (it being my best subject... well, not geometery with all those proofs, but we'll just ignore that), but because there were definite answers. You could take different paths to get to the correct answer (though no one really told you that), but there was a correct answer nonetheless. While others (e.g. my ballet teacher) thinks math is pointless/ mindless/ (fill in the blank), I really enjoy the definitive-ness of it. I don't know when I'll need the quadratic formula (or what it solves, actually) but give me some numbers and I'll tell you what x equals.
There was this lady on the bus this morning, talking on the phone and crying for like 30 minutes. At first, it sounded a bit like she was laughing (gasping for air) but then I heard her say "he overreacted" and "that's not right". And for a lot of the time, she was just crying (well, dry sobbing). Maybe the person on the other end was rambling?
And her phone was low on batteries, so then she asked this guy sitting nearby if she could borrow his phone. She made a couple of phone calls, followed by more dry sobbing and then finally (apparently) left a message saying "I'm on the bus, my phone died so I had to borrow someone's phone, I need to talk to you."
Don't want to be insensitive, but the whole time she was talking on the borrowed phone (which was at least for 5 minutes) - I was thinking *cellphone minutes!* It's not like she was actually talking, just crying.
Yesterday, on the train - there were some metro police officers checking tickets. Anyway, the guy sitting in front of me shouted out "hey!" or something - one of the officers walked over and after checking the tickets of the people around, he asked the guy why he shouted. The guy said that he wanted the officer to come over and check the ticket (already) so he could put his ticket back into his wallet and put his walled away, because he has over $100 in his wallet.
The officer just told him that he could get a ticket for yelling like that on the train and moved along. The guy in front of me was like (to no one in particular), "give me a ticket, yeah right, just looking for something else to do."
Anyway, I was making a face (like "huh?!") 'cause the guy was an idiot - and he was looking around and he saw me (making the face). I thought he was going to ask "what are you looking at?" but instead:
Him (he was Asian - probably Chinese) : What are you - are you Chinese?
Me: No, I'm American. What are you?
Him: No, I mean, what nationality?
Me: I'm American.
Him: Oh. (turns back around).
If he had been not Asian (say white, black or Hispanic) - the response probably would have been something a lot ruder than just "oh".
Technically, I'm a "dash American" (i.e. Taiwanese-American) but you're some stranger on the train, I don't have to answer your questions.
I was on the bus today and this guy in a wheelchair was right in front of me and the guy sitting next to me, except that his wheelchair was almost crushing our legs. I had to sit sideways for the entire ride. The guy next to me asked the wheelchair guy if he could move up just a little but the wheelchair guy would not. Absolutely not. There was a least a foot or two in front (that he could move up). Not to mention that his wheelchair was on a slight diagonal so the walkway was blocked too.
There were a ton of people on the bus (it was crazy). Then the driver picked up another guy in a wheelchair - usually what happens, if the bus is crowded, the driver will just continue going (and call in to HQ and tell them that they couldn't pick up a wheelchair - that way, the next bus will definitely stop to pick him/her up). Not in this case - all the people in the front of the bus had to get off, so that the 2nd wheelchair could get on, and then re-board the bus.
I don't want to be insensitive but you know, when the bus is that crowded, everyone has to make sacrifices. Including waiting for the next bus. (Or, in my case, sit sideways which was so incredibly uncomfortable, especially since people standing were knocking into my knees).
The guy next to me was talking about how the drivers watch out for "their people" (the driver + the 2 wheelchair guys were the same race) and how some of the drivers are especially mean to another group of people (which this guy was), particularly those passengers who don't speak English.
Anyway - So You Think You Can Dance tonight is sooooo boring!
People are really really starting to get to me. And I need to not let them.
On the bus this morning, this lady sat in the seat next to me - her perfume was so strong, I thought I was going to suffocate.
Then, when I was trying to get off the bus, hoards of people were trying to get on (through the back doors, no less) and I had to seriously push through. Stupid people - I mean, I know, if everyone else is pushing to get on, you have to too, because you don't want to be the last person. But, it would be smarter to let people off first because then there's room on the bus. Duh. I had to shout "move!" - I was a little surprised at myself, actually, because usually I just push people and forgo the talking.
Everything doesn't need to be an argument. Sometimes, I'll tell people something (one person in particular) and he basically act like I'm either lying to him or that I'm trying to make it difficult for him. Not just to me - but most likely to everyone. The funny thing is sometimes I'm like that too, but dude, believe me - I don't want to make things more difficult. I like easy. Don't start debating everything, okay?
And lastly - remember the idiot farfel of a boss I mentioned http://alphabetsoup.vox.com/library/post/managing-your-time-efficiently.html? Well, said student came back to get her graded assignments (and I guess to talk to him about it). She asks him and he gives the stack to ME to let her look through them. Why didn't you just do that at the beginning? So then she starts asking me questions like "the grade on here says B+. Why was that a 55?" I had to explain that he had some scale where it was like A+ (90-100), A (80-89), A- (70-79), and so forth. It's a grad class so he (and I guess, they) don't just do a straight calculation, because a certain % needs to get A's and B's.
Then she wants to know why she got a B+. I told her that she needed to ask him. Then she started pointing to comments he wrote on the assignment (like Range = 4.5V, or something technical like that) and asked "did he give me a B+ because the range was 4.5V? But I don't think I had that range in my assignment." Seriously, how am I supposed to answer that?
So I tell her to go ask him (I mean, I could give her answers but they would be completely made up). She goes and asks if she can talk to him about her assignment and he starts with the "not right now, it's not a good day, I'm really busy, make an appointment for another day." I think she asked "when?" and he was vague, just "another day - today's not a good day", etc. So I walked over to his office and said forcefully "she just has a question about her grade, she's come like 5 times, and every time, you tell her to come back later, and every time she comes back later at the times YOU tell her to come, you tell her to come back later."
I don't know if he got all of what I was saying but he told the student "well, okay, ask your question, quickly." Seriously - what an fracking idiot. Every time she comes back, she asks me if he's busy, and if she can talk to him. Which means I need to stop whatever I'm doing to answer her. Then she asks me when he will be free - I don't the heck know.
So yeah, I am one cranky girl today. Do not get on my bad side, and DO NOT try to debate with me because I will have answers ready to throw back at you. (The answers may be made up, but still - you will not win an argument with me).
We had quite an incident on the bus this morning. I'm not sure what all the ruckus was about, but from what I've gathered - it was because the bus driver was mean.
I say "mean" in relative terms because as far as I could tell, all he was doing was trying to enforce the rules. Here's a few things that I observed:
1. When he pulled up towards the stop, there was another bus right in front. Rather than stop where he was and allow people to board, he waited until the bus in front of him finished loading and pulled forward to the cross walk (it was a red light). Then he moved forward to the back half of the bus stop and allowed people to board. Some people were annoyed that he wouldn't let us just board back there. Well - it's a safety issue (based on what other bus drivers have told passengers). If you get injured getting on or off the bus, particularly if it's not at a designated stop - the driver can get into loads of trouble. So you have to wait 2 seconds before boarding - get over it.
2. He told one lady she had to pay 30 cents for a transfer (I think she contends she already paid) - another problem is that hoards of people are trying to board all at the same time (people apparently don't believe in standing in line) and one person might put in a few coins and then while digging in her purse for more coins, someone else might put in their fare. So the computer may show that one person has paid and another has only partially paid but it's up to the driver to try to figure out who it was that paid in full. Perhaps if everyone had their fare ready, and waited for the person in front to finish his/her transaction, this would not be a problem... although many people have passes or transfers and some drivers will ask those people to step around to expedite the process.
3. He took a monthly pass away from a guy and told him that it was a copy of a pass*, not the real thing. He did let the guy ride though without paying.
4. At the next stop - he did not open the back doors (there are two of them - one in the middle of the bus and one at the back), so the two passengers getting off had to go out through the front door. Which meant the people waiting to board had to wait until those two de-boarded before getting on. The lady first in line was griping about this (mumbling that the driver should have opened the back doors). This is actually a common thing for drivers, especially on the high-capacity line that I take. The reason is that if you open the back doors for people to get off, passengers will try to board from there, rather than going through the front door. Part of it is pure laziness - why walk up to the front of the bus when you're standing by a back door? And secondly, seats are a premium on the bus line so you want to get on the bus asap so you can get a seat.
About 3 minutes later (just passed the next stop) - the driver stopped and stepped out of the bus to talk to a transit official. While he was talking, some of the passengers started to gripe. One guy (an Asian-American) said that everyone should tell the driver what a horrible driver he was. Another guy (a white guy) sitting near the front was also going on about how rude the driver was, as the Hispanics were also chattering away in Spanish to each other (presumably about the driver).
I don't think something majorly serious (either a physical or verbal assault) occured - if it did, there would have been much more of an uproar. Was it just because the driver was "mean"?
Anyway, everyone got off the bus as the transit official phoned in to get another bus. Meanwhile, some of the passengers (those that I mentioned earlier) got into a shouting match with the driver. The driver (who was black or African-American) was saying that it was a safety issue (probably in response to one of the examples I gave above).
It was unbelievable. When the Asian-American guy was saying that everyone should tell the driver how bad he was, I almost responded "why, because he enforces the rules?" No, seriously, what did he do that was so horrible, we had to cause 40+ people to get to work later than they would have?
I read a headline yesterday about how Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood may have contributed to the "me, me, me" culture - in that kids were taught that they were special. I can see that. So the driver makes you follow the rules - there are rules for a reason. You do not need to push to get on the bus (seriously, the entire crowd will try to be the first person on and if you're in the middle of the crowd, you will be pushed forward whether you care about boarding soon or not).
People do not wait in line. This is not Disneyland where the queues are designed for people to stand in them. At these bus stops, there two 4 feet area with poles on the sides where the buses are supposed to stop. But rarely do the buses stop right there (depends on if there are buses in front or not).
I think the biggest problem is a) people don't follow the rules and b) drivers don't enforce the rules uniformly. I don't know if it's explicitly stated that you must board through the front door (though I think the bus schedules do include instructions to board and pay the fare, at the fare box in the front of the bus). And though it may not be stated - I think it is pretty common knowledge that this is how it works in the US. (On the other hand - if you are in Taiwan, you may board through either the front or the back door and you pay at the front when you are getting off). Either way - people just don't follow rules. There are signs that say (in both English and Spanish) that eating and drinking is not allowed (complete with a drawing of food and a line through it) but people still eat and drink.
Some drivers will tell them to stop, others won't. Just like with the boarding issue - some drivers will make people who board from the back doors get off (and reboard through the front, though some just stomp off in a tantrum and wait for the next bus). Other drivers, though, will not - either because they don't care or because there are so many people on the bus that it's not practical to make them get off (and delay the bus further). So how do you know whether you can board through the back or not? You can't....
Because these rules are not enforced uniformly, people don't know what they can get away with and what they can't. And if a driver calls them on it, the passenger usually gets defensive with a mentality of how dare the driver asked me to follow the rules?! You do realize that the drivers themselves don't make up the rules? That they exist for the sake of everyone?
I don't mind drivers who are strict (on enforcing the rules). I just wished there was a bit more uniformity - if you have a pass, should you step around a passenger who is paying or not? It depends on the driver - they may want everyone to board quickly, or they might chide you for being pushy. And the sense of entitlement that some (many) of these passengers have is unbelievable.
The one notable thing of the incident was how quickly the transit official responded. Maybe a passenger on the bus called transit headquarters? I've been on buses where we needed the police (I think both times it was because the guy was either drunk or rambling mad) but that took at least 5 minutes for the police to show up. In this case, it seemed almost instantaneous (the very next stop).
*Btw, as we were getting off the bus, I did catch a glimpse of the counterfeit pass. It did look like a fake (faded, no hologram). And this whole boarding through the back door, not waiting in line at the front reminds me too much of the illegal immigration problem we have in the U.S. Why go the legitimate route when you can just sneak on through the back?
I made the hat, out of felt. It was supposed to be a bucket hat, but then I didn't know exactly had to make it. Plus, I left the extra part around, so now it looks either like a Daniel Boone cap or a baseball cap (kind of).
Riding the bus in the morning... I guess most people are still on vacation. The bus was like 20 minutes fast. Or 10 minutes slow. I wonder which one...
Another bus-problem day, though this one wasn't such a big deal. The bus we were on slowed down and barely inched along - might have been a problem with the battery or something. So we had to get off, walk back to the bus stop and wait for another bus. Luckily the Rapids are frequent, around 1 to 5 minutes apart. Well, there are some times when you have to wait like 10 minutes but in general, it's pretty good.
Anyway, while I was walking from the bus stop to my office, I saw this lady digging in a trash can. Given the metropolis I live and work in, not an uncommon sight. But I thought it was strange because the lady did not look like a bum (I mean, she was holding a bag from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf - not exactly "hard times" food). And then I noticed that she was actually arranging some cans of soup and small boxes of food around the lid/rim of the trash can - I guess so homeless people could get something to eat without it being someone else's leftovers...
Hmmm. Makes you stop and think.
6:25am Cocoa Puffs & 2% milk
8:45am Red grapes (24)
12:00pm Pepperoni pizza (single serving)
Enzo's pepperoni pizza, salad w/ ranch dressing, lemonade (2 servs)
2:15pm Chocolate pudding (120 cals)
4:15pm Gala apple, See's chocolate (4 pieces - chocolate w/ almonds & peanuts)
8:00pm Potstickers w/ soy paste, lettuce (cooked), breaded chicken filet, fried chicken tender, brown n serve (2)
9:45pm Cookie w/ chocolate chip, walnuts, coconut
Not such a great day so far - I was slow getting ready this morning so I didn't have time to eat my Cocoa Puffs (though I still did drink the milk). And then, I got off the 720 so I could hop on to the 21 (at Wilshire/Normandie) but then the 21 just drove right by! I could have screamed. I was waiting at the bus stop (before the traffic light) but the bus sped up through the intersection and stopped after the traffic light to let people off. That's not even where the 21 bus stop is, stupid driver!! The driver had no intention of stopping either, because he (well, it might have been a she) pulled into the 2nd lane when it was about 1/4 of a block away.
I wasn't about to wait another 12-14 minutes for another 21 (plus, they are unreliable) so I got on the 20 which was just about 10 seconds behind. I could have gotten on another 720 but there weren't any nearby. I swear, that 21 driver must have been plowing through the intersections and not picking anyone up.
Idiot farfel...
6:30am 2% milk
8:15am Clementine orange
12:00pm Clementine orange
2:00pm Ono Hawaiian - white rice, bbq chicken, shredded pork, macaroni salad, cabbage, fried wonton strips
4:15pm Fuji apple Cookie w/ walnuts, chocolate chips
6:00pm Fried rice (w/ eggs), rice cake (slightly sweet, almost like mochi), fried yam, fried shrimp, fried chicken, chocolate milk, cookie w/ chocolate (2 small)
8:30pm Cookie w/ walnuts, chocolate chips; cookie w/ chocolate (1 small); cookie (1 small)
9:30pm Cool Ranch Doritos (140 cals)
