>What the hell are the riders supposed to do?
I have no pat answer to that question. Your story and questions are a
wondrously poetic and terrifyingly accurate rendition of a dilemma I face all
the time myself, on Muni, and on the streets.
I almost worship the occasional driver who is so resolute and authoritative
that, on at least one occasion, the entire back section of the (#6 or #7) bus
filed out at his command. (I can't remember whether they were doing crack or
graffiti or harassing someone--something on that order, and he, all the way in
front of the bus, noticed it before I did, got up, dealt, sat down, drove
on--spectacular!)
But it doesn't feel just to demand that all drivers be prepared to act like
this--it seems to me to be a talent or intuitive impulse above and beyond the
call of duty.
I'm not inclined to hold the driver more accountable than any other person
present. Drivers aren't the same as schoolteachers, in charge of disciplining
delinquents. Peter and Robert, do operators have training sessions or rules
about these situations?
So far my own response in risky situations has no formula; it depends on what
I feel capable of that day. Sometimes I blare out in protest, sometimes I
settle for mutterings into my Tneck, and sometimes I just close off because I
have reached the limit of what I can put out that day.
All that I have ever accomplished so far in any of these responses was to
solidly commiserate with the wronged, and when I have been the wronged, such a
response from another person has been of some consolation to me.
I have not faced openly life-threatening aggression toward myself or a fellow
passenger or street occupant, except in the form of automobile attacks in
crosswalks.
My willingness to face off with someone on the edge depends on the strength
and inspiration I feel that day. So far I have not been shot, except
verbally.
Speaking of verbal: Jeremy, I also wanted to express a dreadful rapture with
your description in a previous mailing:
>There's this horrible noise that I have only heard on MUNI. It only
>happens when someone is hurt or when something scary happens. It's sort
>of a cacophony of moans and "oh!"s. Never any screams or anything, just
>a collection of audible shock.
You are a glorious writer! If you can do nothing else at these times, keep on
writing!
Barbara Roos