An Introduction to People of the Bus

I suppose that all good blogs should have a reason for being. Why else put your thoughts out there for the whole world to read? Unless you’re a serial killer, I guess, who just wants to sicken as many folks as possible. As interesting as that idea might be for some people, I confess that it’s not my reason.

What I wanted to do was tell the story of the folk I meet daily who walk the streets and ride the bus because they are a) handicapped, either mentally or physically, b) going green in a big way and eschewing gas guzzlers, c) have had their driver’s license suspended or taken away and are actually adhering to these restrictions, d) are single mothers with babies or people just too poor to afford a car, or e) are kids who are going to school from elementary level on up to college. What makes this population, especially the handicapped folk, so special to me is that I’ve been unable to drive for health reasons for several years and only since 2007 have I recovered to the point where I can walk without a cane. Where it’s too far to walk or I’m just too tired, I take the bus – that is, if I can’t scrounge a ride from someone else. I daily walk the streets with these good folk and see them frequently on the bus and they have become very special to me. They are unique, endearing and brave, and I love them.

While I was forced to ride in an electric cart and use a cane, I noticed a peculiar reaction from folks I met or passed by. Most would try to avoid eye contact with me or ignore me if I said hello. If I was with my then husband, they would talk to him but not to me. I had vanished somehow, my cart or cane rendering me invisible to their eyes. Although I understood they reacted this way from fear – there but for the grace of God go I – it still hurt. It was dehumanizing and I felt isolated and an outcast. I felt ‘less than’ and no longer a member of the population. That I was still the same old Lea inside even with a cane couldn’t reach many of these folk and I felt compassion for them for being so afraid. It inspired me, however, to go out of my way to greet all people, regardless of their condition, and let them know that at least one person believed they were human and deserved to be treated so.

Of course there were the strong folk who understood our humanity and treated us accordingly and to them I am forever grateful and have held them up as examples for my behavior. They are far fewer than I’d like, however, so I have resolved to enlarge their numbers by one.

Because I live in a small town and some of these bus riders are well known wanderers, I’ve changed their names and altered their physical traits enough so their privacy is protected. I have no intentions of ridiculing or poking fun at these fellow travelers, though sometimes they are funny and unintentionally so. I will simply try to portray them as the human beings they are, with the same needs for affection and acceptance as the rest of us. Some are severely handicapped and it is difficult sometimes to recognize that there is a person beneath the outer trappings longing to be loved and lonely for attention. It is for these folk, the forgotten, the unloved, the human outcasts that this blog is for. Perhaps if I can portray their humanity well enough others won’t be afraid to reach out and greet them, even become friends with them. Such a relationship brings riches far more to the one who reaches out than the one who receives, but both are better for the trying. It’s a thought, at least!