Daniel DeMoss

I usually ride the route 4 bus from the Ypsilanti Transit Center to work, but on one particularly lazy Monday morning as I ran toward the Ypsilanti Transit Center I watched in deep disappointment as the bus I was planning to ride pulled away.  With some quick thinking I guessed that I could catch the route 5 bus and take it to Ann Arbor instead.  I found the appropriate bus and walked toward it.  That’s when the weirdness began.  And with the weirdness came a lesson about human desire and human nature.

As I approached the bus I saw that the bus driver was standing next to his seat and facing the rear of the bus.  I had barely stepped onto the bus when he started in on a lecture to certain riders.

“This bus will not move an inch until all the radios are off!  You know the rules!!!” said the gray haired driver, angrily.  He was obviously referring to the mp3s playing over cell phone speakers in the back.

The teenagers at the back of the bus responded chaotically and all at once shouting about how the bus driver was “always trying to put us down” and telling the driver he needed to “chill out” among other things, with colorful language peppered throughout.

The bus driver had obviously had enough and so had the teenagers.  There was a history here that I had not been privy to.

He escalated the rhetoric and pointed his finger for effect.

“If this doesn’t stop I will not hesitate to have Gerald call the authorities and they will find out what goes on in the mornings!” he said threateningly.  Just before sitting down he added, “Act your age!!!”

I have no idea who Gerald is.  I have no idea what “goes on” in the mornings.  This was my first experience on the route 5 bus on a weekday morning.

This would definitely be enough excitement for me to think and write about, but of course, it didn’t stop there.

We drove for some time without any outbursts or angry words.  We stopped to drop off and pick up some people a few times along the way.  At one particular stop about two people got off the bus and about two more boarded.  The doors closed and we began to drive away when it happened.  From the back of the bus we heard one of the teenagers say it.

“Oh man, wait! He’s tryin’ to run for the bus!!!” she said while pointing out the window on the right side of the bus.

At this point I must say that this is quite common.  People are late for the bus all the time and some choose to run for it.  A select few make it.  It depends on the driver, the speed of the bus, and the speed of the runner.  There’s probably a mathematical equation to explain it all.

As we all turned we saw a man carrying a large book running diagonally alonside and toward the bus.  He was a smaller build man that looked about in his twenties.  We saw the man running and then we saw the book.  In a moment it happened.  It was like it happened in slow motion.  His arm made a swinging motion and the book launched into the air.  It hit the side of the bus with a thud.

Everyone on the bus started making noise.  Some laughed, some gave their opinion about the situation, and some yelled at the driver.

Much to my surprise the bus came to a stop and the man, out of breath and dishevelled, stepped onto the bus.

As he walked toward one of the seats there began a low rumble of praise.  Mostly from the teenagers, but praise none the less.

He had faced the system.  He had caused the system, that so often enforced it’s rules upon the people, to bow to his will.

Interesting isn’t it?
Don’t we all want to see someone that will stand up to the powers that be?
Don’t we all want someone who will stand up to the system and change things?

There’s something appealling about that.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that he should have thrown the book.  I would have much rather he brushed his teeth faster and made it to the stop on time.  But he symbolically stood up to the system.  He wouldn’t stand for the status quo.  I think that’s what prompted the praise.  Again, in no way do I endorse “standing up” to the AATA.  I think that it is an awesome organization that is providing our community with an awesome service.  But isn’t it interesting?  There’s something in our human nature that values someone who stands up for a cause and doesn’t just roll over and accept the norm.  I think that’s why we like people like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.   These guys saw how “things were done” and they found these ways to be unacceptable.

I don’t think it’s a cultural thing.  I don’t think it’s a race thing.  I think it’s a human thing.  We all need that kind of thinking.  The kind that looks at life outside of how things are and looks at how things really should be.

In Ypsilanti, I really believe that this kind of thinking has become rampant.  There are so many examples of this in our community.  From the guys who saw how internet was done and decided to do it differently to the people who choose to open their new businesses on Michigan Avenue.  These are the Ypsilantians that see the vision.  They see the future.  And they are the ones that drive us there.  So to them I say keep it up.  Keep looking beyond the current reality into the bright future of Ypsilanti.  Keep taking us there.  And thank you.