Kindly Bus Driver

Kindly bus driver tells all

By Albert Fried-Cassorla

Riding the 42 just for pleasure to see what west Philly had to offer

We witnessed Philly kindness on tap

belying the usual bad rap.

A semi-conscious young passenger in a wheelchair sat before us,

who needed to make his stop.

The driver saw that he was secured, quite unlikely to flop.

Which stop? And how would the driver know?

He'd asked beforehand where the man wanted to go.

With ramp fully extended and firmly locked in place

he drew the bus to a halt with grace,

and put on the flashers -- all at a speedy pace.

He rolled the sleepy passenger down the center aisle, quite discreet,

made a turn and gently pushed the rider towards the street.

Onto the ramp they both sailed, with the wakened passenger still undisturbed,

gliding above the road

to the foot-high curb.

With a parting salutation he sent the rider on his way:

"Sir, have a great day!" said the dedicated SEPTA employee

Later, I asked him if he'd been taught to accommodate people in such a gracious way.

Had politeness always held sway?

No, he said, they did learn a lot in transit training but not for every wrinkle and twist.

-- Enough to handle some difficult bits

He seemed happy to be able to help the rider,

who might've been suffering from some ailment or treatment perhaps.

Do you always have such challenges on this route?

"No, not on the 42- --the 55 on the other hand is an adventure and more rowdy."

"Sir, you are a missionary of civility,"

I thus saluted him before we left.

He took it as I intended -- that he was a gent of considerable moral heft.

Note: This story is more or less true as it happened one June day in 2024! We had decided to take the 55 bus to who-know-where,