Disability and Bus Riding

Dear “priority riders” on buses (that aren’t wheelchair users):

You are entitled to a seat on the bus, not a side of the bus.

This happens to me way too often: I get on a mostly empty bus to find someone sitting in the priority seating section designated for wheelchairs, the elderly, etc., who refuses to move. Now, I’m not talking about someone who doesn’t fit one of the categories of rider that need the seat, I’m talking about the grumpy old dude with a cane who sits in the middle of the fucking section and refuses to shift a seat or two over so I can fit my chair in one of the two fucking slots available.

“I’m missing a leg!”

Oh? You don’t say! Did it fall off and take over the other three seats to your right?! How terrible! Fucking move!

And to the little old lady on the other side who magically became unable to acknowledge the bus driver’s request to slide over so I could get my chair secured: Fuck you and the stupid shopping cart full of shit you think deserves its own fucking seat. I fucking see you and your childish bullshit.

I am sick and fucking tired of trying to negotiate for the one of two slots on the fucking bus that I can get my chair in. I’m tired of the grumpy comments. I’m tired of people just straight‐up acting like they can’t see what’s going on when I get on the bus.

And to those about to slide into my inbox with a “Well, actually…”, put your damn keyboards down.

You know exactly who I’m fucking talking about, especially on the Rapid Rides. Don’t defend people who are perfectly capable of sitting in any of the other seats on the bus (assuming someone would find it in their heart to not be a fucking ghoul and offer their seat to a tired old person for the whole 30 to 40 minutes their gonna be on the bus).

And for the record, I’ve given up my seat so that someone else who needs it more can have it. I have been on a full bus with both chair slots full and gotten off the bus so that a power chair user can have it. When there’s another person in a chair waiting for the same bus as me, I check with the driver to make sure there’s two slots before boarding.

I try to not be an asshole.

So when there are spare seats, especially in the priority boarding section that you can safely move to, for the love of fuck‐all, please move and don’t take up more seats than you have to (that includes the shit you brought on the bus with you).