Blondie

A “M-A-N” 300. (Photo by BobbaLew.)

About 10 years into my career driving bus I picked what became my all-time favorite run. We bus-drivers picked runs by seniority three times per year.
The run was a “package,” working the rush-hours. To do so my first “half” pulled out around 6 a.m. to take people from eastern suburbs into Rochester. It finished about 8:30; only one trip, inbound.
My second half was 1703, three trips to Pittsford, another suburb east of Rochester.
I started about 2:45, doing schoolwork at first. I took students from an intermediate school in Rochester to downtown, where they transferred to a public bus home. They had passes.
I then pulled off somewhere to nap over the motor. My first trip to Pittsford was about 3:25. I used an alarm-watch.
Passengers loved having me. I rode bus myself when younger, so knew all-too-well how important bus-transit could be.
I was getting those passengers to work, or home, on time no matter what. I had vise-grips and screwdrivers in my lunchbox — a union no-no. I wasn’t waiting 15-20 minutes to have loose windshield-wipers tightened.
If a bus was unsafe or inoperable I’d cripple it. But not without arranging a quick change of buses.
I also developed detours to skirt traffic-jams due to snow emergency. “Why are we getting off here?” “Because I might be able to do a quicker route.”
When I went on vacation “Be at yer stop five minutes earlier. I leave five minutes late — which gets me downtown on time. My replacement may leave per schedule. And don’t be afraid to have some ‘regular’ ride shotgun, so yer driver doesn’t miss anyone out here in the boonies.”
The first half of this run was 2105, and I had an “artic,” a “bendable.” Our 300s were our first bendable buses. Its front half, powered, pulled a trailer connected by bellows. 300s were bog-slow, but I dove right in. The bendable concept was brand-new, and supposedly allowed converting two separate bus trips to only one bus.
Previously a separate bus trip covered Fairport, and another covered East Rochester. With my 300 I covered both. Passengers didn’t like that. Schedule-times were juggled. Fairport was about 10 minutes earlier, and ER 10 minutes later. I arrived downtown 10 minutes later.
La-dee-dah! We probably lost a few with that. I think a 300 could carry maybe 60 or more. I averaged about 35, often less.
One of my regulars was a pretty lady I called “Blondie.” She looked maybe 35, had long blond hair, and got on at West Ave. in ER.
“Blondie” was a regular. If she wasn’t at her stop, I glanced down West Ave. to see if she was coming. Sometimes she was late getting out of her house. If I saw Blondie running, I stopped. I wasn’t stiffin’ no regular. Rarely did that happen, but she appreciated I looked for her. When I left 2105 she gave me a local pastry — ER was very Italian.
Regrettably she smoked, and I once saw her being picked up downtown by some greasy sleaze-ball in an older full-size Cadillac.
I wonder what happened to Blondie.

• For 16&1/2 years (1977-1993) I drove transit bus for Regional Transit Service (RTS) in Rochester, NY, a public employer, the transit-bus operator in Rochester and environs. My stroke October 26th, 1993 ended that. I retired on medical-disability. I recovered well enough to return to work at a newspaper; I retired from that over 12 years ago.