The ride of my life

While I'm on an honesty kick ... bus drivers scare me. A lot.

There is the bus driver that twirls his hand in the air as he drives like he is conducting an orchestra and stomps his foot in what I can only assume is some sort of OCD. There was the bus driver that yelled at everyone that was getting on the bus to "HURRY UP, come on come on!!" As if he was in a timed race. And paid by the customer. There was the one that was eating a full course meal on their lap while they drove. There was the day a bus driver I get regularly recognized me (Screech ... this makes me a commuter and a Bus Person. Ack.) ...

But yesterday really took the cake.

In general, I've noticed that the bus driver rule is to honk when you run yellow-to-red lights. Yes. They simply honk as they are holding up traffic to race through the intersection. (Does this rule apply to me? If I would have honked while running the red light would I have avoided that lovely "Welcome to California" $400 ticket?)

But this driver's mantra had to be "honk early, honk often." He honked at least twice per block ... and I was on the bus for 20 minutes. That, my friends, is a LOT of honking. I started paying attention, trying to figure out what he was honking about--were there cars around? Not necessarily. Pedestrians flinging themselves in front of the bus unknowingly? Not that I saw.

But, what really threw him into a honking fit was the Time Warner cable guy. After about 20 honks, he finally got the Time Warner guy's attention, who was waiting at the light in the lane next to us. He then proceeded to ask the guy how he could get cable in his house! "How do I get the cable to my downtown home?" Uhhh... Yeah. I think they have a phone number and a Web site for that. I mean, did he expect Time Warner van man to say "Oh let me follow you there now? I'm sure your passengers won't mind."

The somewhat tense "why is this guy honking like a maniac??" bus erupted in laughter... and when the light turned that first hint of green, off he zoomed to continue his honking rampage.