I decided to stop to visit the Barnes & Noble, deboarding at the Lakeshore Marketplace South stop by the Target. I asked my bus-driver if he would be by in one hour. He answered, "uhuh". I understand most bus systems try to keep bus drivers focused on the road and out of rider education, but that would have been a good time to state a scheduled time of 9:45 PM. I have the impression that I checked my cellphone clock as I deboarded and it said 8:46 PM. My previous experience with that stop a year ago, I usually found myself waiting at 9:50 PM.
As I was no more than ten feet from the corner where the bus stop marker stood, I saw the 9:45 PM Harvey Bus blow by that stop at a speed that struck me as hurried. I checked my cellphone again, and it read 9:44 PM. Although I realize that public buses are not taxi cabs or school buses, if that was the same driver as at 8:45 PM, I would wonder if he would possibly give a few seconds look for known rider who had made an hour long bookstore stop? The last bus for the night could function slightly like a sag wagon. This isn't unheard of within your system. The woman who drives the Lakeshore Henry, 6:06 PM Sherman and Cumberland, seems to know the personalities of her riders almost by the second run.
To say missing the bus by ten feet caused considerable inconvenience might be understating the case. Port City Taxi wouldn't pick me up without a twelve dollar minimum. Stores were closing, so seeing someone I knew to give me a ride was out of the question. So I set out at 10:00 for home and arrived by foot at 11:00 PM. I have Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis Arthritis, so the walk wasn't unpleasant but caused my right knee to flare up. Plus, it's not great to have a bus rider stranded, walking on a strange road, improperly lit, because a bus driver didn't look right for a glance.
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