An Open Letter from Your Bus Driver

Some people hate me. Some people don’t even realize I exist. However, some people will follow me to the ends of the earth. I am your humble Spirit Bus driver, and I’ve embarked on a quest to experiment on the fragile minds of the students of Texas A&M.

Jason Hurdle once sprinted a quarter mile along side my door in hopes that I would let him in.

Hayden Thumps started beating the door as I drove past his Route 15 stop.

In your weakest moments, I flash the “Out of Service” notice.

But my favorite shade of desperation is the long-distance haul. As a driver, when you see someone a good distance away that you know is coming for your bus, you have two choices, really: wait or drive away.

I personally like to toy with my prey. I see them coming, make sure to lock eyes to show them that I see them. Then, I shut my door. This puts an extra bit of desperation in their eyes. They increase speed. Next, I take off the parking brake to show them that I’m ready to move. This is the kiss of death to them. They now have two choices: haul (red)ass to my bus or give up and wait for the next bus.

It’s during this internal strife that I am at my best. As soon as I see which decision they’ve made, I act.

Tuesday morning, I was sitting in my Route 6 bus outside the MSC. I saw Heather White just passing Rudder Statue. I had only just arrived, but she didn’t know this. For all she knew, I was ready to depart. As she made her way through the ‘free speech zone’ she must have thought she had a shot at making my bus. When she made it to the eye contact phase, I locked eyes and nodded. She showed relief. Then, I closed my door, this caused her to do a skip step to pick up her pace. Just as soon as she began at the new faster pace, I lifted my brake. She made an all-out sprint, almost knocking over an elderly professor to reach me.

Now, usually, once I’ve seen them commit, I take off and leave them running for nothing, but this one was special. She ran as hard as she could until she reached me. Once she was on board, I waited four whole minutes to depart.

Welcome to my world, you are all just along for the ride.

-Commons Lobbyist