Going Your Way - All Hail The MTA

Oh, what adventures one can have traveling in NYC.  The ins and  outs, the ups and downs.  I’ve had some very special adventures on the buses, and in particular the M20.  The M20 takes me to many of the places I need to go to.  It goes down from Columbus Circle on Seventh Avenue to South Ferry, and up again on Eighth Avenue.  

It was a Friday evening, not too long ago. I had to wake up very early the next morning, and be perky.  I needed to get home in a timely fashion. The M20 picked me up and began it’s journey uptown.    We made a couple of turns and then we came to a standstill.  We needed to make a turn on Hudson Street (which turns into Eighth Avenue).  The problem was traffic backed up from the Holland Tunnel.  And we were waiting and waiting.  No one was letting the bus make the left turn, and the driver was not taking the initiative.  There seems to be many traffic cops in NYC, but somehow they never seem to be in a location that might actually need their help. 

I remember someone telling me that she waited on the M20 for an hour and half before the bus started moving.  That hadn't been my experience and it certainly didn't fit into into my schedule, so after about 20 minutes of waiting,I thought, this isn't working!  I walked up to the bus driver and said, “Do you want me to stop the car and then you can make the turn, and then let me back on the bus?”  The bus driver nodded his head affirmative.  So out I went.

I stood in front of a car, which contained a particularly angry driver.  He kept yelling at me and inching his car towards me.  Everyone was watching so I wasn’t that worried.  Okay so I was worried, but everyone was watching.  He inched and inched at me and cursed and cursed.  Eventually, traffic had moved a bit, and by now the bus driver was able to maneuver the bus so that we could finally make the turn.

The bus driver opened up the door and in I went.  The bus driver thanked me and then the other passengers broke out in full applause.   

We rode up Hudson Street, and  as I got off at my stop, the bus driver thanked me again.   A frail elderly lady was moving towards the bus stop as the bus started to inch away.  Elderly Lady, “oh he won’t stop.”  Me, “Oh, he’ll stop.”  I knocked on the door.  The bus driver opened the door and the Elderly Lady got in. 

I got home feeling satisfied.  Gotham can rest well tonight.