On the Bus: Patience works in his marriage – and on the job

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He’s been married 44 years now, and it’s lasted for the same reason he’s lasted as a city bus driver: Robert refuses to let the little stuff bother him.

“I’m very happy most of the time,” he said. “I’ll see somebody having a bad day and start joking with them, and sometimes that helps change how they’re feeling.”

He’s a combat veteran who came back from Vietnam with a short fuse, but somehow shook it off, drawing from a lifelong ability to be patient and understand that not everything’s worth a fight.

“I learned it from my parents. It’s up to you. You can keep on carrying that stick with you, or not,” said the IndyGo driver, whom I’m calling Robert.

“I don’t let anybody wreck my day. I wake up in a great mood - because I woke up, and that’s a blessing right there,” he said. “There’s always somebody trying to spoil your day. But the key is, you don’t have to let them.”

You might call it the hold-your-tongue approach, something he also does when his wife wants an argument. We didn’t get to hear her side, but there’s no doubt Robert is one positive guy. You can see it from the way he smiles at people getting on his bus.

Not everybody returns the favor, and he’s fine with that. Like elsewhere in life, you can find all kinds of attitudes on the bus, including bad behavior. He’s ejected passengers for causing a disturbance.

“Before I put a person off, I give them three chances,” he said. “First, I’ll call them up to the front and speak to them one on one, explain to them that you can’t do that.

“If they go back and do it some more, I’m going to call them out, and everybody on the bus will know that you’re in trouble.  The third time I’m going to just open the door and say, ‘This is your stop.’

“And they don’t get upset, because I’ve given them two chances already. The third time, you’ve got to go.”

Real problems are pretty rare.

“I had three boys fighting on the bus one time. I pulled the brakes, got out of my seat and went back there. I threw two of them off and let the other one stay because the people back there said he wasn’t starting it.”

Usually, drivers will call for a supervisor when there’s trouble. Robert preferred to handle it himself.

“To me they’re just kids,” Robert said.

“I’ve been to Vietnam. They’re just playing compared to what I’ve seen.”

 - By John Strauss, jcs1122@yahoo.com


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