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!

A word to the not-so-wise....

You would think it is unnecessary to mention this, but apparently not so.  Hence I have a suggestion for anyone on the run from the law....DON'T DYE YOUR HAIR BUBBLEGUM PINK!  A couple of days ago, a couple friendly officers of the law stopped by with a photo.  They asked if I had seen him.  I did recognize the face, but couldn't recall if I'd seen him recently or not.  They then indicated that if I saw him to give them a call...oh, and by the way, he has dyed his hair pink.  After they left, I passed the request on to my co-worker, who had been at lunch when the police came by.  Not an hour later, she said "Is that the guy they were looking for?"  Sure enough, there he was, with his bright pink hair.  I probably wouldn't have been able to be sure he was the same person, had it not been for the hair.  Come on folks, are you really that stupid???

Today was one for the books!

I think every day around here is beyond weird, but today was a topper, for sure!  The previously mentioned person who wanted everyone to view his stubbed toe was sitting in the lobby when I walked in this morning.  He had apparently arrived sometime before 8 a.m.  Not long after I got here, I overheard him talking on the phone, when he mentioned that he was going to be here until 4 p.m.  Without a doubt, 8 hours of him in the lobby is cruel and unusual punishment!  Then my co-worker mentioned that he had been laying face down on the floor this morning.  (This is oddly becoming "normal" for him.  He claims he's having seizures.)  I would have to be completely unconscious to lay on this floor...it's totally disgusting!  She told him he needed to get up and sit on the bench.  This only served to set him off on  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to bug you", 17,000 times.  If he hasn't already bugged you to your breaking pointing, his non-stop apologies are certain to push you over the edge.  A bit later in the morning we hear "Hey!"...."Hey!", only to find him once again laying on the floor in his spread-eagle position.  She just told him to get up and have a seat.  While I was gone to lunch, she sent me a text saying he had done it two more times, so she called 9-1-1.  The paramedics came and he did his thing for them outside on the sidewalk.  They came in and said that he wasn't having seizures, which was confirmed by his doctor.  It's sooooo exhausting dealing with people who will do ANYTHING for attention!

In case it hadn't already been a weird enough day, I got a call from one of the supervisors, saying that the driver of the bus coming from Leavenworth (30 miles away) had gotten halfway back to Wenatchee, when someone said "who's dog is this?"  Apparently the dog had gotten on at one of the stops, but the owner had not.  This particular dog is well-known around here, since the owner claims it's her "service dog".  The only problem is, she always has it dressed up...in a swimsuit, halloween costume, sunglasses, snow boots....and pushing it in a stroller!  You get the picture...not so much a service animal as a toy!  So, between tending to the attention-seeking dude and the t-shirt-wearing chihuahua, I was ready to call it a day about 2 p.m.

To add insult to injury, I'm working Tuesday through Saturday this week, so I am just getting warmed up on what promises to be another fun-filled week!

What's it worth?

Yesterday was another one for the memory album.  I got a call about 12:30 from a "gentleman" demanding that I call the Rt 24 driver because he left his shirt on the bus.  Since we have a policy that we only call for items over $50 (typically wallets or cell phones), I told him I couldn't do that, and that the drivers usually do a walk-through when they complete their routes and bring in any items left behind.  He said that wouldn't work for him, so he would hold so I could call the driver right then.  I again told him I couldn't do that.  He then got even more agitated and reminded me that he pays my wages, so I needed to call NOW!  Same story....not gonna do that, sir!  By this point he told me it was a work shirt that he had just bought and he needed to get it; what would stop someone else from picking it up and putting in their backpack?  Probably not much, but I didn't bother pointing that out to him.  He demanded my name and my supervisor's name.  Happy to oblige there.  Then he slammed the phone down.  About 20 minutes later, a "gentleman" came to the front counter and immediately said "I talked to someone earlier about a lost shirt".  I gladly told him it was me.  Mind you, he had apparently gotten in a vehicle and driven the 15 miles from where he originally got off the bus to have a little face-to-face time.  Fortunately, the supervisor was standing there.  He asked if the shirt had been turned in.  Nope, sorry.  He said "that's why you should have called when I told you to."  Again, I told him we have a policy that we can only contact dispatch to call a driver for high-value items.  But said I would contact dispatch (via IM), to see if the driver had it on the bus.  I sent the IM, an then waited.  About 30 seconds later he said "am I just standing here for nothing?"  The supervisor said he should have a seat because we were waiting for dispatch to get back to us.  He had a seat....for about 2 minutes...then he came back to the counter and said "if you find it, just give it away to somebody it fits.  I'm too busy to deal with you folks", and off he stomped.  About an hour later, the driver brought the shirt in.  I saw it still had the price tag on, so I took a look.....Wal-Mart $1.00~!  Pretty pathetic that a person is willing to make a fool of themself for only a dollar!

It's a bird....it's a plane.....it's CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS!

So one of our regulars (35-40 years old) came to the counter this morning to get some change.  When I got up from my desk to help him, I saw that his pants were down BELOW his underwear.  Not just the band of his underwear exposed, but half his thighs were exposed.  Thank goodness his tighty whities appeared to be new!  As he walked away, his pants were pulled up normally in back.  I have no idea whether that was the look he was going for or a massive wardrobe malfunction.  I need to go wash my eyes out with bleach!