Fnding best friends

One thing I have noticed is the non-pretentious nature of the bus passenger's personalities. They don't pretend to be someone else. They are who they are. So many in our world seem to be pretenders, putting on the image of something they want others to think they are. It seems the more that people find success in the world, the more they are overly conscious of what others think of them. 

True success to me is to be who you are, even if somewhat different, and be happy in that. When we find that place, in ourselves, and we don't really get overly concerned on what others think about us, we have reached a great milestone in our lives. Even if it is different, unique, unusual, or eccentric (which is a relative term), we are happy in ourselves. 

Now some who are different aren't happy either. They are different to be different because they don't like the identity they see of themselves. They are pretenders as well. Both the poor and prosperous can be in the same pretender syndrome. The professional, the pauper... it's not who you are; or whether you drive the bus or ride the bus... pretenders are there.

The difference is found in finding that unique person, who we honestly, truly are, and making ourselves our best friend. Being honest to ourselves and to each other. It's about respecting and honoring the special person we are, respecting and honoring the special person someone else is, and being honest to that regardless of what anyone does.

Today I was walking down the street to catch line 22 back after being at one of my favorite coffee shops. I was enjoying the walk, who I am, and enjoying being my own best friend. During this walk I began thinking about the above.

The other day I was coming back from Barnes and Noble after working on one of my biz book summaries I do on another blog. I decided to grab line 12. Getting on the bus at the same time was a couple that was very different according to common standards. Not by any means model material for a leading fashion magazine in appearance and dress. He was very skinny with an exceptionally skinny face, long skinny noise, clipper cut spiky hair,  carrying a  gallon jug of muscle builder powder with him. She was bigger than him, somewhat chubby, with thick lips and a round nose, round face, with her red hair pulled back in a pony tail.  She took up more room on the seat than he did. 

During the ride, he put his hand on the back of her head and was gently stroking her pony tail. She leaned her head toward him. Put her red head on his shoulder. Then she looked at him, he faced her with noses almost touching and she had a very grateful smile on her face. I saw them later walking down a street, holding hands and you could see they adored each other.  

There... two hearts loved each other... neither were a motion picture star model of beauty in fashion, style or appearance, but this couple held affection for each other. 

Now, in my early career I produced videos and my first job ever was in radio. Picture this couple and someone coming up singing behind them, as they go on seemingly unnoticed while "hooked on a feeling" is being sung over-dramatically. What a bus video!!!... hooked on a feeling.   Close ups and dissolves back and forth... two to one shots, with passengers with a "ain't that sweet" look  looking on. Love can be found in all places. And we ain't gotta be movie stars. Wish I could find them... we could make them into an internet sensation.

And now, to the lovely ones on #12... the best to you. This is a dedication to the love you show to each other. You indeed are two beautiful people. 

I ... ' ...m ...m... m... m... h o o o k e d  ... on ... a ... f e e e e l i n g.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJQVlVHsFF8

(Maybe this could be the opening to the bus terminal sitcom.)

I thought... this is what the world is looking for. To love each other for who we are, no pretense, adoringly admiring and cherishing each other's company. 

Be who you are and let that find the other person who likes that too. Another bus culture lesson learned about love, connecting and being real to ourselves and each other.

(more on the "bus terminal" sitcom coming)

The Bus Terminal … just a sitcom or is it?

The Bus Terminal … just a sitcom or is it?

Hanging around the bus terminal, the local security guy put this thought in my head. What goes on at the terminal would be a great sitcom, like a Friends TV sitcom.

He got me thinking about this. I came up with a basic concept, flow of characters and meaningful message from the episodes. It needed, I felt, some unusual characters to bring comic variety and a core who made the story each week.

Here's the characters... of course not based on any one real person. Some traits may be similar to some at the terminal, although they are fictitious for the story. Being a bus patron, these ideas came to me while on bus runs across town.

The Cast of Characters

Three Bus Drivers 
Sweet Samuel.  Samuel expresses himself very effeminately. Most think he is gay, but he is not. He handles situation with  a lot of outrageous drama. It's all drama with Sweet Samuel but the way he handles irritating bus patrons, with his over the top emotional style, keeps them in line... that's all Samuel. His wife comes by once in awhile. She is 3 times bigger than Samuel, and quite the dominating female around Samuel. He is short, slender, and moves quite girlishly.

Dashing Danica.  Danica wanted to be a race car driver and everyone thinks she changed her name to resemble a famous one. She didn't make it as a race car driver, although some stories coming back to the station indicate she uses her acumen in driving skills in ways to control patrons not in line on her bus. She is always on schedule and with her ability to maneuver through traffic she has an unprecedented ability to make up time. She is tall, slender, jet black hair and wears her bus uniform in a way that makes her look like the NASCAR race driver she dreams of being. She walks with a cocky strut.

Bob. There is no drama with Bob. Bob is quite boring. Bob reminds you of a frog. He looks like a big frog in the way he drives, talks like a frog, and handles all situations in a very undramatic way. He gets the job done in as few words as possible, and many like the relief  boring Bob gives them... after being on Samuel's and Danica's bus.

There is much drama in Samuel's everyday activity. Dashing Danica pulls off driving stunts that rumor has nearly got her fired several times but no passenger would ever speak against her. And Bob is such a contrast, his frog-like actions create a dramatic juxtaposition with his associate drivers.

Sweet Samuel, Dashing Danica, and Bob each have their bus following and have taken turns being Driver of the Year. The older crowd likes Sweet Samuel; trendy/college, Dashing Danica; and corporate culture, Bob.

The Security Guard
Alex, the Security  guard. After failing his psychology comps three times, he took the job as a security guard.  His manner in handling disturbances is hilarious. Everyone likes Alex. He is always smiling and joking with the patrons. He is known to make really tough bad dudes come to tears as he gets them talking about mom, and if mom held them enough as a baby. They break down crying after Alex leads them into dealing with their inner child. Almost always giving Alex a big hug, weeping on his shoulder for understanding, he tells them to come back anytime and "we can talk more."

Alex  also has resolved many couple conflicts at the terminal, including those who erupt with love disputes. Couples start coming from everywhere to ride the bus just so they can talk to Alex.

The Regular Passenger 
Pete the Priest. Pete is not really a priest but gets tagged the name because of his Spiritual insights. He actually was thrown out of Theological Seminary because he accused its leadership of being hypocrites in a paper he wrote. Everyone likes Pete. His quiet, pleasant manner draws many to him. 

The 4 Professionals
Then the core group. Four professional people show up every Saturday night at the terminal...a criminal lawyer, a corporation CPA, an ad agency copy writer, and a high school theater
teacher. They are on a mission. They always dress down, looking for a prime suspect.
They find unusual people that probably can't get a job anywhere, and turn them into marketable, in-demand people.

The Storyline

The 4 professionals started hanging out there because they found out that Randy's Ribs, the best rib restaurant in the city, gives their left-over ribs to a mission Friday night.
The mission comes by the bus terminal on Saturday night to feed the hungry...  Randy's Ribs.
A dinner for 4 at Randy's cost $40 for the group special. The 4 professionals find out that the same ribs are given out by the mission every Saturday night, then “why are we paying $40 when we can get them for free.”

So on a dare to each other, they go to the bus terminal and dress poor and act homeless to get Randy's Ribs free. Ironically, the mission thinks the poor and needy are at the bus terminal, when in fact it is not the case anymore. So the 4 professionals, guiltlessly, take advantage of this market profile miss-read by the mission.

While at the terminal,  they start observing the variety of people there. Again on a dare they decide to pick some "interesting" folks and sell them to the professional venues they know as a rare, highly sought after talent in their field.

Their dialogue creates the theme for the rest of the sitcoms.
What if we took music lover Larry who comes by the terminal with his big headphones on, groovin in his comical, special style to his music, and sold him to the music world contacts they know as the best talent spotter in the area. Larry is comical to look at. He is short, a little stocky, hip hopping in his own world, gyrating to the music.
They become fascinated with how different he is. What is so fanatical, after they get done with Larry, they turn him into being the talk of the industry.

They spot Harry, the guy who always wears a bicycle helmet, but they never saw him with a
bicycle. He becomes an invention genius. The 4 professionals coach him and introduce him to an  innovation company to be part of their think-tank group. Harry talks a whole lot, and has an opinion, unusual one, on almost everything. They sell this as his genius.

Alex and Pete the Priest provide the 4 professionals with psychological and Spiritual insights they have on the subjects the 4 professionals target.

So the set up... the character bus drivers, counseling guard, the priestly passenger, the 4 professionals.
The bus drivers create short comedy vignettes, Alex the guard and Pete the Priest add to it, and the profiling by the 4 professional, dressed down, create the core theme for each episode.

The Communication Objective

The communications objective is to change our view of people and prejudice.
With the right connections, the right coaching, the right group around us, 
anyone can be somebody in life.

Even though  it is a sitcom with hilarious, outrageous scenes created around the
bus drivers, the security guard, the priest,  and the 4 professionals with the schemes they come up with, each episode ends with a surprise on how the unlikely subject changes.

When they build their subject up to be a superstar, an expert in their field, the 4 professionals are surprised themselves what they just did for this person. When people believe in you and act convinced, it's amazing how the person, within, rises to the occasion.

The moral here ... the bus culture is an opportunity to create such unbelievable transformation. If those with social change interests partnered with public transit, we could change the character competence of our world.

To follow, some possible episodes for Sweet Samuel, Dashing Danica, Bob, with Alex and Pete and the 4 professionals.

Bus Culture ... seeds of value worth millions

"Looking for a job," he said. "Where are you from?" I asked.  "St. Louis," he said.  "I am in a program here." "What kind of program?" I asked. Well, he said he had two DUI's and he needed to come here for rehab. He was in one of the mission recovery programs. I asked him what he can do. "Big patch cooking." He worked in a large food manufacturing plant before. I told him I was not good at finding jobs. I always had to create my own. This conversation took place as we were waiting for line 26 early Sunday morning.

As we got on the bus, I happened to be sitting directly across from him. He looked downright despondent. He seemed intelligent and somewhat remorseful for the predicament he was in. I felt he wanted to make some changes in his life and showed that by his willingness to come to this area for a recovery stint. After we got off the bus, it went through my mind that I can help him. I didn't get his name. 

 As I walked from the terminal,  a program outline came to my mind. As soon as I got to my morning spot, I began to write it out. Ideas come like that to me... usually fast and furious. I created a 30-day financial recovery plan for someone in desperation. Not just the person on a job furlough, but anyone needing to build some cash quickly in their personal funds. I now have it as a free outline on my website.

This happened several weeks ago. A few weeks before that I had a thought relative to this. I was walking down Dale St. Instead of waiting on a bus, I will many times walk on to the next bus stop or keep walking until the bus nears arrival time.  I end up in some remote places. As I waited for line 2, I was observing the neighborhood. A simple street. Quiet and cozy. A young lady gets some groceries out of her fairly new subcompact car and walks into a small house that looked newly renovated. A nice place for a young married couple I thought. 

Here comes the bus. Some of these drivers I have ridden with before. I wonder if they wonder about all the different places they pick me up. Well, guess it doesn't matter.

As I got on the bus, I was observing the people. They all had the bus stare. When on the bus, you recognize the bus stare. Looking straight ahead with no expression or emotion. A Bible verse popped into my head, "they are sheep without a shepherd." While in college and as part of  my career, I studied brain performance. We all have the same amount of brain cells. Some have learned how to effectively transmit communication through them and some haven't. Like a city bus route... some flow well, some don't. But you can always fix it.

Then the light bulb came on. All these guys have the same amount of "potential" in brain power. Some know how to use it, some don't  What if someone could teach them. If we could mobilize the intelligence of the inactive structures in the brain, we could have capable people all over the place. Then the Bible came back to mind. David, King David of the Israel, had all the cast outs, criminals, disowned, uncultured people as his most loyal army. It was these soldiers who fought for him to take back his position of being King.

These people have no leader. Unless you walk with them, hang with them, ride with them, you have no rights to be their leader. King David earned it with his mighty men. He was with them in the caves they lived in. I saw myself in a hallowed, strategic position. I know the feeling to be offered food, a bottled water, because someone thinks you are poor and homeless. We can restore the dignity of being a human being.

In the USA we have over 100 million people low on money. Like the guy at the bus stop, when reliant on a job, we must have a job to create money. But if we learned income creating skills, like entrepreneurs know, we can create income resources when without a job, or in addition to one to make up the difference needed.

We could teach these skills and we can change America. Who can do this... the combined genius of regular folks, like the bus culture. Local entrepreneur Jack Stack said in his best-selling book, the Great Game of Business, when you raise the bottom you raise the top.

100 million people with income producing skills could turn America around. This was what King David did in the Bible. Jesus was accused of hanging out with the prostitutes, drunks, wheeler-dealers, con men of his era. The Bible reports after he left earth, this bunch was productive as there were no needs among them. The Jesus culture loved each other, helped each other, and were productive as communities. We need new pockets of gift-empowered communities.

We can do it again and revolutionize America.   100 million mobilized Americans with rebuilt hope, entrepreneur skills and support from each other can do this. So... I made the vow then... this is what I will do. The bus culture has what it takes and we can refresh hope, light up life, re-train life skills, create pride in effort and productiveness, and with God's help we can do this.

I had this revolutionary thinking process going on as I was riding down Dale St. and Washington Ave. to my place.

So, my adventure for the summer began... it has a purpose, a reason, a goal. The Bus Culture Experience became a cause.  It is a noble cause that can happen. It's one at a time; we can change America one person at a time. The Bus Driver can be part of it, by giving hope to one rider a day, where the opportunity affords itself. The new, transformational bus operative can be the culture transformer, life renovator and invigorator.

Now, as I look at the patrons I see people who can change America to be hopeful, productive and transformational. I will do my part. Just last week my new website was launched to under gird efforts like this. As the opportunity arises for me, I will incite and refresh hope where I can. 

Sooner or Later the Bus ride is gonna get ya

At the terminal the dude was wearing his headphones. I mean, not ear plugs, but full headphones.

He was bopping with whatever he was hearing. He was really groovin' on this thing. "Come on man... it's not 7 a.m. yet. Some of us folks not there yet," I thought,

but the dude was really into it... short guy, kinda comical as he was groovin' on his own something. He had his own world right in the mix of the terminal as we all were waiting for our connections.

Then a dude today with a head band on, ear plugs in his ears, boppin' along as we were coming down Campbell. If I didn't know, I must be missin' out on a festive fantasy. These guys are really into their inner world of fantasia.

There is a magic, enticement or something compelling here. But sooner of later love is gonna get ya, you will be on the bus groovin' in this music. Lookin' for love in all the wrong places, lookin' for love in all the wrong faces... like the old hit from the Grassroots, sooner or later love is gonna get ya.

Sooner or later the bus ride is gonna win.

Well, to get the feel while reading this,  you got to hear it, you got to click on and listen to the Grassroots song as you read this... okay, back to the top now... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3aTwlwAnXc

Can you see it... all these folks just bobbing their heads, enjoying the ride, like a bus ride scene  out of an old Beatles video.

I was telling a young lady today, I used to work with, about my bus experience and she said she was a little afraid to ride the bus. If she would give it a try, all I can say is sooner or later the bus ride is gonna get ya, sooner or later you will be in love with the experience, sooner or later you'll fall in love with the culture, sooner or later the bus culture experience will be your joy ride. 

Sooner or later the bus is gonna get ya,

Sooner or later you'll be groovin' the experience,

Sooner or later the ride is gonna get ya,

Sooner or later you'll be riding with us again.

The Bus Culture Experience. 

I ride the bus by choice

Finally some rain. Early Sunday waiting for 22's first run while standing in the rainy mist of the showers from overnight. As I stood there, enjoying this break from the drought and heat we were having,  this went through my mind. We need to start a campaign for riding the bus as a great means of transportation. It's not just the "have to" crowd but some of us ride by choice. And then this theme line pops in my brain... "I ride the bus by choice."  

What if we made T-shirts with this theme on them?

I ride the bus

by choice

And then on the back we could have something like...

Public Transit 

 keeps cash 

In My pocket

or 

I ride the bus

'cause
I Like it

and on the back of the T-shirt... 

Top Ten reasons to use 

Public Transit

1.

 2.

  3.

Make the lines smaller in descending order in that the last few a person would have to be real close to read them. Maybe have a "top ten reasons to ride the bus" contest.

Could give these T-shirts to businesses who would buy a day or two, or a week of bus passes for their people. Get as many to wear the T-shirts as possible and create the idea... it's not a last resort of transportation, but a money-saving way to get around. Possibly this could attract a broader base of the community to use Public Transit. 

Maybe have free T-shirt day for the regulars on a certain day. "Ride the bus on .... and get a free T-shirt." A friend of mine owns a screen printing business. She has convinced me having humans as walking billboards is one of the best methods of advertising.

I can hear her from a distance... 22 is humming down the street. Got on and the bus driver and I both agreed... what a beautiful rainy morning. I grabbed some paper out of my shoulder bag and quickly wrote down these thoughts before they slipped from my mind.

Bus riding prejudice

If there is one thing that really bothers me is prejudice. When I see it or sense it, I want to go to bat against it. I never really considered myself to be prejudiced, but in so many ways we are, and we don't realize it. When my car came up with a blown head gasket, my daughter, who lives in Chicago, took a look at the transit system on the Internet while we were talking on the phone. She said I had a good system with a lot of bus options around me. 

  

Where I live I am only about a half of a mile from anything I need. My daughter's a nurse and she said it would be good for me to walk more. So I can walk there. The bus could get me to places I needed to go and enjoy, such as going downtown, Barnes and Noble bookstore, the library and other places of interest to me. I thought about it and decided to try it. Mainly based on her recommendation.

Back to the prejudice issue...

I remember one day, as I was walking back to my place, I saw these folks waiting at a bus stop for the bus. As I got closer, I thought, "poor folks... only have the bus to get them around."  Then I caught myself. I am one of those folks. It dawned on me I am prejudice too. Never thought I was.  

My neighbor rides the bus to work everyday. And she feels that there is a bus prejudice by people in businesses and community. This became apparent to me again about a week after my car's head gasket blew. I had to meet a client. So I took a bus to the meeting. As we visited I mentioned about my car. He immediately questioned, "you took the bus here?" It was like I had hit bottom in my life or something in his mind. He looked at me in a condescending surprise. There is a negative perception by some.
It was then, I decided to check this out and do what I can do to change this mindset. Which is one reason behind why I decided to create this blog. 

There are obvious benefits of using public transit and some misconceptions that need to be reformed. The bus culture is not weird or threatening. It can actually be a lot of fun. As I implied in my tag line to this blog... it's a great opportunity to learn enlarging a person's life, "world view" and improve our abilities to be effective with a variety of people. 

It is my hope that what I do here will remove this prejudice, increase interest in using public transportation, remove people's fears, educate others on how it works,  create interest and intrigue to becoming part of the bus culture.    And to impress on the bus drivers the importance of their role in how they affect people's self-identity while increasing patron use by how the drivers express their personality, their manner.  From a marketing perspective, the drivers are the brand. They will draw more into using public transportation, more than anything else.  Also, I hope to provide insight to those who administer public transit to advance the system to appeal to a larger representation of the community.  And above all, eradicate the perception some have toward the bus system as being a lower form of transportation. When in fact it's efficient, money-saving, fun, life enhancing and just a smart way to get around. 

What a smile will do

Getting on Line 7 at the terminal on the way to the library. I sat on the sideways seats right next to the back seats. Edgar ends up sitting next to me. He was wearing a Ryan's name tag. Friendly, talkative guy. A couple Asian-looking girls put their bikes on the front of the bus and sat on the back seats. We had just started out and the bus comes to a halt. The driver calls to the back and told the girls with the bikes they needed to fix them, they are loose and may fall off. They didn't appear to understand what was going on. So Edgar and I began to explain. They still appeared somewhat perplexed by the whole thing as they still didn't understand. So Edgar gets up and says to them,  "come with me." They followed him and he goes out to their bikes and helps secure them. They were very grateful to Edgar for helping them. So off we go again.

I said "good job Edgar." He leans over to me and whispers, "had a chance to meet some really cute girls."  I asked the girls where they were from. They said, "Japan." What are you doing here... in school? "Yes," they said. Which one I asked, "Missouri State." The whole time they smiled. Seemed to enjoy someone taking an interest in them. (I was feeling like I was an Ambassador for the USA and making our visitors from Japan welcome in our country.)

 And they kept smiling the whole time... very pleasant young ladies. Every time I looked over at them they would smile at me. 

Edgar was not short of things to talk about. He was a cook at Ryan's and explained the way he made his steaks and why they were so good. I should come by Saturday night for their ribs... they are exceptional he said. By the time we got to his stop he had invited me to come by and he would cook up something very special for me.

The Japan girls pulled the chord for their stop. As they were going by me, they smiled, nodded and waved good bye to me. 

What made me think is the respect they showed. In their culture showing respect for elders, people in an authority position is very huge. The way they remained so courteous to me showed that.

Edgar became my friend in minutes and invited me for a steak at Ryan's Steak House.

Respect, being helpful, courteous and being gracious always wins out. Some see the bus culture as not that, but not always. The young Japanese students left an impression on me with their constant smiling, friendly  respectful expressions. Amazing what a smile will do. When I got off the bus I was also smiling and saying friendly things to several passengers. And you never know when someone may invite you to dinner.  

Lesson learned from the bus culture experience. If you are not getting enough smiles in life, smile more and others will smile back. When you smile first, the other person will smile, and before you know it everyone is smiling at the next person. One smile can begin spreading smiles around... it only takes a spark to get a fire burning.

Be at the right place where people want you

Need to get to the bank real fast and get back. Line 2 is coming by in 10 min. Can I do it? I got to the bank, took care of a few business matters. Line 2 coming by again.  A little late today. Someone said it was free day at the fair. I had a chance to be transit customer service rep for someone wanting to know when the bus would be by.  I shared with him my precise calculations... hit the nail on the head when I anticipated Line 2 will be around. Wooo bus packed. Guess free day at the fair is getting everyone out.

Just remembered I wanted to get a haircut too. Best plan: stay on Line 2, it converts to Line 1 at terminal, then stay with it. It goes right by the hair place.  Timing good; hair girl got me right in and out in time to catch Line 1, but this time it had been full circle and coming back around. What a hot day! Think I will ride it all the way around and back. Nothing like an air conditioned bus on a horrendously hot day. 

I started walking back to where the bus would be coming toward me. Oh yes, I see a bus sign in the distance on the other side of a pole. Managed to get there as he was rounding the corner. I gave a friendly bus wave.  Hmmm... he kept on going. Walked up to pole and looked around the pole to the sign and it said, "No Parking". I realized buses don't stop at "No Parking" signs. It needs to be a bus stop sign.  Lesson learned. Be at the right place that offers what you want. If you want something, go to where someone has what you want. 

So, I changed my strategy. Line 14 comes by not too far where I am. I can make this, I know I have enough time... walk, walk, walk... and I made it with five minutes to spare. There's the grocery store. As my mind did a quick scan of my refrigerator, I really could use a few things. Decision time... why not do it now and I won't have to make a trip back.

I hurried in, got my goods, one person in line, fast cashier. Got through in seconds, felt like an Olympian.  I know I can still make it to the bus stop just out front.  I hurried outside and there she is, Line 14 at the stop light. She still needs to cross the street. As I get to the bus stop, an authorized one this time, the light changes. 14 pulls across the street to me. On it, off again and a short walk to my place.

Not bad on time. I went to the bank, got a haircut, grabbed some groceries and back home within two hours. Consider this. With good planning, knowing your system, a strategy, watch your timing, you can dance with the wolves as they say. (Not saying bus drivers are wolves.)(Noticed a sign that said do not talk to the bus drivers while moving. It made me think of the sign at the zoo, "don't feed the animals." A correlation?... naaa... must be having a right brain association trip.)
(For the record: most all the bus drivers I met are good people. Always friendly, happy to help, and they graciously answer any questions you may have... good-hearted, approachable folks.)

I learned a lesson on how to stay on schedule by watching the drivers. They know when to push the pedal, and when to hit the brakes. It's knowing when and how much to push the pedal, and when and how much to apply the brakes... not too soon, not too late.  To meet a schedule, when we know their secret, we can make our schedules. This would have really helped me in my relationships, my career earlier in life,  if only I would been part of the bus culture experience sooner. Again, the secret of life... to know when to push the pedal and when to hit the brakes.