No explanation required!!!!!

Another of our top-notch patrons makes national news!

After a bit of a dry spell, this past week has provided a plethora of fodder for my blogging pleasure.

We have quite a few riders with developmental disabilities.  Many of them live in group homes that are supposed to provide them supervision.  One group home had a "doctor" who seemed like the weaseliest doctor we'd ever met.  We always questioned if he was really a doctor, but then most of the folks we deal with have an inflated presentation of their status.

Tonight's newspaper verified our gut response to Dr. Ewwww.  Apparently he had been featured on America's Most Wanted. 

Guest Comments (the PC title for COMPLAINTS)

Okay, this might actually fall under the previous post (since it does fall within the 3-day full moon "hangover" period), but it was so bizarre that I have given it a post all of it's own. 

Just as I was walking out the door yesterday afternoon, I answered one last phone call.  That was my first mistake.  One of our tasks is to take "guest comments" and route them to the appropriate person for a response.

Yesterday's call was from a woman who was waiting at the stop on the outskirts of Wenatchee, which is also where our buses reside and the starting place for the drivers.  There was a driver who was also at the stop, as he was going to relieve the driver of the bus they were waiting for.

The trouble began when the driver began to whistle.  I know, whistling is not generally considered an unpardonable sin, but I found out it is.  She asked him to stop, and he reportedly asked why.  She told him that she was a whistleblower, so he should not whistle around her.  Besides she's a feminist and has no thyroid, so he should not harass her by whistling. Of course it took her 20 minutes to report her complaint, since there was no detail too minute to include. 

Sooooo, the moral of this story is.....if you find whistling irritating, you might want to have your thyroid checked!

The Tale of the Full Moon

For those who say it's a myth that crazy things happen during a full moon, I have one thing to say.....balderdash!  This is how my morning went today.  If you have read previous posts, you will recognize the first character as the "boy who stubbed his toe".  He came to the front counter to buy his monthly bus pass (or rather pick up his pass that you and I are buying for him).  He mentioned that he had had a seizure this morning.  I acknowledged it, but did NOT solicit any details.  A few minutes later I was walking through the lobby and he called out "Hey, come here."  I turned and started toward him and he started to pull up his pant leg.  I stopped and said "I don't want to see."  He said "But I want to show you."  "No, I REALLY DO NOT NEED TO SEE!"  As I was walking back through the lobby, he said "So, if I have a seizure later, is that okay?"  My response was that if he is really having a seizure, he probably doesn't have any choice about when he has one.  Less than an hour later, the supervisor was heading out the front door and said "The Rt 11 is on hold, someone is having a seizure."  Imagine that!  Yet another hour later, my good friend called to see if he was kicked off the bus.  I said I had no idea.  He said "Did you hear?  I had a seizure.  I'm in the hospital right now."

In the middle of the above storyline, another frequent flyer of ours came in and asked when the next bus to Chelan left.  I told her it didn't leave until 9:30 (about 45 minutes).  Apparently this was NOT what she wanted to hear, since she turned around and stormed off, shouting that it was unconstitutional.  But she was back a few minutes later saying she only had 34 cents and she needed 50 cents to make a phone call.  I gladly reached into my purse get her on her way.  She then proceeded to scream at whoever she had called.  Everyone in the lobby was looking around at each other with raised eyebrows.  But of course, this was not the end of the saga.  After Catherine was finished berating the lucky recipient on the phone, she came back and said "I need change" as she put a bus token on the counter.  Since local service agencies give these out to their clients, rather than cash, we have a policy of not redeeming them for cash.  I told her I couldn't give her cash for the token.  She headed back toward the phone booth where I assumed she was gathering her bags.  She then stepped back into lobby and threw the token at the glass doors.  Surprisingly, she then just quietly took a seat.  Not to worry, the peace and quiet was short-lived.  About 10 minutes later I saw two patrol cars pull onto the platform.  You guessed it....she had called 9-1-1 because I wouldn't give her cash for her token.  The officer was none too pleased to find out why she had called.  He told her that was a personal problem and not the kind of thing that warrants calling 9-1-1.  This did not phase her.  She told him she was going to call whenever she felt she needed their help.  Mr Policeman, exercising incredible self control, looked at her and said "If you call again for something like this, I'm going to take you to jail."

So.....don't be so quick to dismiss the myth that weird things happen when there is a full moon.  And just for the record, it's not just on the day of the full moon....there are about 3 days on the run-up, and a 3-day full moon hangover afterward!

This goes in the "Are you serious?" category

Got a phone call this morning from a man who said he just bought a couch and was wondering if he could put it on the bike rack on the front of the bus.  I told him I didn't think they would allow that.  He said "I don't see why not".  For starters, they are called BIKE RACKS, not furniture dollies.  Secondly, kind of difficult to secure a couch to the front of a bus.  Above all....it's just plain STUPID!

Every day a new discovery!

I have come to the conclusion that bus riders (or at least bus station residents, who, by the way, ought to have their mail sent here) are earth-conscious people.  They are conserving water.  I guess in China it's the Year of the Dragon, but at Link Transit it is the Shower-Free Year.  It's only March, so by November or December it will probably blister the paint off the walls.  There isn't an air freshener on the planet that can neutralize this aroma!

Enough said!