Friendliest Bus Riders?

By: Mr. Wilson on August 11, 2005
Have any of you who ride Star Tran -- all 25 of you -- ever noticed how friendly the riders are to the bus drivers? I'm not talking about "the regulars" who know the drivers and go to their kids' birthday parties. I mean the occasional riders, or the ones who ride frequently but who don't ever interact with the drivers. I'll bet a good 75% of the riders say either "Thanks" or "Have a good day" when exiting the bus, even when leaving via the back door. And they even say those things to the crappy and/or surly drivers. I first thought about this after talking with a friend who currently lives in New Jersey. She was very surprised by how different the people are, and she noted that she earns curious stares when she says things like "Thank you" to folks like store clerks. If nothing else, the fact that Lincolnites say "Thanks" to their bus drivers is yet another small reason that I enjoy living in Lincoln.

Comments

See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.

Mr. T
August 12, 2005 at 2:33AM

True. I’ve had similar experiences. The thing is (and Wilson this is the ONE time you’ll hear me say good things about Nebraska) - after being here for 2.5 years (originally from St. Paul/Mnpls) what I like about Nebraska in general is that the people here (most but certainly not all) genuinely are hospitable to you on a person to person level. There’s something about Nebraskans that’s really special.


My theory: I think the people here sort of know that the state itself doesn’t really have a whole lot to brag about. There ain’t any mountains or oceans or huge metro areas, and the state has its fair share of problems, particularly in the poor rural areas. So people here kind of know that what makes the state special are the people themselves. So Nebraskans just value other Nebraskans in a way they wouldn’t in CA or NY or for that matter MN.


OK sounds corny, just my 2 centavos.

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