The bus driver in Seattle who called out my phone addiction

Last Tuesday I was scrolling through emails during my 45 minute ride from Capitol Hill to downtown when the driver actually paused the bus at a red light and said, "You know that thing you're staring at is why you missed the last two stops." He was right, I had been so buried in work stuff that I forgot to pull the cord and walked an extra six blocks in the rain. It hit different because he wasn't being a jerk about it, just stating the obvious like my dad would. Now I put my phone in my backpack for the first 15 minutes and actually look out the window at the ferry line. Has anyone else had a stranger call out a habit that made you rethink your whole commute routine?

2 comments

2 Comments

miles27919d ago

That bus driver overstepped in my book. Your phone, your ride, your missed stops, your problem. Him calling you out was basically shaming you for doing something every single person on that bus was probably doing too, they just got lucky with their stop. Honestly, missing a stop is a minor annoyance, nothing more. That extra six block walk in the rain probably did more for your focus than staring at the ferry lineup ever will. People act like being on your phone is this huge moral failure, but that's just how we live now, and pretending otherwise is fake. Next time you'll just sit in the back and do what you want, and he can keep his commentary to himself.

the_eric18d ago

Saw my buddy miss his stop same way, @miles279 basically lives in the back row now.