Now this may make me a disgusting sicko, but if two 14 year old girls started making out in the back of my cab, I'd probably knock a few bucks off of the fare. Maybe, it depends...

But, on a city bus, there is probably some code of conduct for PDA, whatever a driver's prejudices may or may not be. If he had to kick them off under those rules, he should have kept his thoughts to himself.

Yes Cabbie, that does make you a disgusting sicko. But as one of the girl's mother pointed out, public displays of affection go "unpunished" regularly when they're between members of the opposite sex. So this is unjust.

By the way, you're a disgusting sicko. Did I mention that?

"there is probably some code of conduct for PDA"

If so, I doubt the consequence is getting kicked off the bus. How about a "hey, no PDA on the bus" instead?

I'd be inclined to ride the bus if there was promise of MORE PDA.

Oh, it was just too obvious and easy.

In all seriousness, most transit workers will only take so much PDA before getting annoyed and saying something. But that guy undoubtedly had some issues...

Jealous.

can 14 year olds really BE lesbian? Not can they have homosexual feelings and impulses, but does anyone _really_ have their sexuality nailed down that early? Have they been having sex since they were 8? Or to take another angle, does making out on the bus make you a lesbian at any age? If so, based on parties I've been to there are a whole lot of women out there who are lesbian until they sober up...

(and if the story pans out as told, the driver needs to go. This is his stop.)

Appreciative of the support, understanding of the other points of view (to a point). The girls have said, though it's not juicy enough to have been aired, that they of course accept responsibility for not thinking their actions would offend or even be seen. In their teen-age minds, they were in the very back of the bus - with no one able to see them unless they tried to. Teenagers have the remarkable ability to only be able to see what's in front of them at the moment. Our biggest concern in all of this has been, the driver's motivation aside, that they were treated like criminals for doing something that (while admittedly making people uncomfortable and against our own parental preference) was not a crime - nor against any written policy of passenger conduct on the bus. Also of issue is that they did stop the behavior they believed they were told to stop. They were not kissing when told to get off of the bus. In any event, time will tell what will happen. Our main hope in all of this was to send a message that if you work with the public, you should expect to be offended every once in a while. Sadly, people are by nature offensive at times. We'd just like to see non-threatening kids dealt with in a far more humane manner. Maybe a warning of the consequences first, or exact instructions on what behavior is expected to stop. I don't get to touch, insult or throw-out my company's clients because they have personally offended me or another client. The adult in control should have remained in control.

these two 'girls'are not children and knew what they were doing. to insinuate that they are helpless children is an insult to every tax paying citizen in this city. if these two 'children' succeed in getting that trimet bus driver fired there is a move afoot to make sure neither of them ever get picked up again by a trimet bus. they're pictures are being circulated right now between trimet bus drivers. DROP IT NOW, THEY WERE NOT HURT, ACT LIKE ADULTS AND BE TREATED REPECTFULLY!

When you lie about something, and say you were hurt when indeed you were not, and cause suffering for another person out of revenge only, life has a way of snapping back at you.

The 'girls' were told to stop, they chose not to stop, so they had to walk a 1/2 mile. big deal. 14 year olds in todays world are hardly children. TRIMET BUS DRIVERS ARE TAKING THIS VERY SERIOUSLY, this is an injustice to all bus drivers!

I agree with beenzy. And since it appears that these two 'children' (i've seen thier pics, they are NOT children), are lying about everything else, I want verification that the driver used the words "disgusting sicko". I bet ya they made that up to. And if the driver did say that so what? They are acting like disgusting sickos, and it has nothing to do with being a homosexual, it has to do with being an exhibitionist!

I'm glad other drivers are paying attention. Maybe you all won't let your personal feelings get in the way of doing your jobs according to your company's policy. Your supervisors are the ones who verified the driver acted out of control and rode that line themselves to find other witnesses to verify the girls' story, which has checked-out. I'll be happy to let them know that you are all supposedly circulating their photos so you can discriminate against them further.

You gays think that the whole world needs to bow before you, but let me tell you, IT AINT GONNA HAPPEN!

You might succeed in getting this driver fired but let me tell you there will be repercussions!

WE'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR POLITICAL CORRECTNESS!

And any action taken by the drivers as a group IS NOT CONDONED BY THE COMPANY!

Beenzy, since you have such courage in your convictions, how about letting us know which line you drive so we can avoid it?

So you can get me fired too? Forget it.

Look, nobody is trying to tell you how to live, but for crying out loud don’t force the rest of us to live by your standards.

This driver was responding to another passenger’s complaint, he did not instigate this confrontation. But those ‘girls’ (hardly girls) intentionally disregarded the bus driver on this issue and forced his hand. And the comment was not about homosexuals, it was about publicly and without shame exhibiting obscene sexual behavior on their part.

You intentionally attempt to make these girls appear to be 8 years old. These girls are young adults and know what they are doing. They could have waited for the next bus, but no, now we have another ‘anti gay’ crusade, all based on a lie. And this sort of thing is how people like George W Bush come into power in this country. This is a perfect example of it!

"don’t force the rest of us to live by your standards"

It's laughable how two girls making out is forcing you to live by their standards. We live in a society where homosexual people have the same rights as anyone else. This means you may see them kissing in public. As a Tri-Met driver, you encounter a lot of people or behavior you don't agree with. If that's too much of a problem for you, don't drive for Tri-Met.

It's kinda like how fundamentalist Christians shouldn't be pharmacists if they have a problem dispensing birth control or devout Muslims shouldn't tend bar. Get it?

How about when another passenger complains to the driver about something, and then the driver asks people to comply, they comply, thereby allowing other people the courtesy of good manners. If they had simply complied, like most good citizens do, we would not be having this discussion right now!

I love you, G, but I won't say so on the bus.

Here's the thing. I keep saying that the girls have acknowledged they did not think. They have taken responsibility for their part. That passenger likewise did not have to turn-around to look to them. Definitely, the driver did not have to hit one of their feet, call them names and kick them off the bus against policy. Other passengers did witness it, verified they had NOT begun kissing again when kicked off and yet were still forced to go at a non-stop. Your buses have GPS.

If you can site for me even one instance where you or any of your other driver friends kicked a heterosexual couple, adult or kid, off of one of your buses for kissing - I'll listen.

Sadly, none of your supervisors could.

"So you can get me fired too? Forget it."

BTW - why are you afraid of being fired if you did nothing wrong?

Why are you afraid the driver will be fired if he did nothing wrong? If he's 100% blameless, your union wouldn't allow it and you know that.

The answer is easy, figure it out.

Beenzy, you're telling me you're a Trimet driver, right?! That's fucking hilarious. You absolute moron. What the hell are you playing at?!

What you’re attempting to do here is make this incident 100% of the drivers fault. I repeat:

1- A passenger asked the driver to do something; the driver did not make the issue without being asked.
2- If the ‘girls’ (term used loosely) complied as asked, there would have been no problem, there is plenty of time throughout the day to do whatever sexual things you desire, without making a spectacle of yourself.
3- If the term ‘disgusting sickos’ was indeed used it was in an emotional state of turmoil. I don’t know if you know anything about the TRIMET 12 line but it is one of the worst in the city. This poor driver is under intense stress and now is dealing with this whole kissing thing. It was a blunder but bus drivers are not psychologists nor do most of us have advanced education.
4- Attempting to depict these two as helpless children in laughable, really, come on, give us a break!
I would assign a 50/50 % blame for this incident, ½ with the driver and ½ with the two girls. To attempt to turn this into a gay vs. straight issue is to do injustice to all concerned!

Beenzy, call me, please, at 503 294 0840, and deny your affiliation with Trimet. Or do so here.

Otherwise I've got to say, your comments aren't exactly reflecting well on the firm.

THANK YOU MATT, FOR YOUR WONDERFUL INSIGHTFUL COMMENTS, THEY ARE APPRECIATED!

I DO NOT, REPEAT, NOT, speak for anybody but myself, i may or may not be a driver, what difference does it really make?

I DO NOT REPRESENT TRIMET! I WANT TO MAKE THAT CLEAR. TRIMET OFFICIALS HAVE THEIR OWN POINT OF VIEW ON THIS!

In answer to your 2nd comment, the girls DID comply when asked and that's why we are enjoying this topic to chew over. You represented yourself and otehr TriMet drivers in this discussion as people who are actively planning some form of retribution against teenagers over an adult who made the choice to react poorly in a non-threatening situation against minors. He went against policy and unless shown that is not acceptable could do so again - next time against minors who don't seem as adult to you. If you do not represent TriMet, then quit threatening my kids in their name.

>> He went against policy and unless shown that is not acceptable could do so again - next time against minors who don't seem as adult to you.

There are currently about seventy million Americans under the age of 18, or a quarter of the total US population. Juvenile crime statistics report that 2.3 million juveniles were arrested in 2002. This accounts for 17 percent of all arrests and 15 to 25 percent of all violent crimes. According to juvenile crime statistics, murder accounted for five percent of violent crimes committed by juveniles, 12 percent for rape, 14 percent for robbery, and 12 percent for aggravated assault.

http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/criminal_law/juvenile/statistics.html

So what you're saying is that you DO work for Trimet, beenzy?

BOY DO YOU LIVE IN A DREAM WORLD.
I AM DONE WITH THIS CONVERSATION.
DO WHATEVER YOU FEEL LIKE.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU AND YOUR PALS!

no i do not work for trimet.

end of discussion...

I don't believe you. What's your real name? Address?

For great meals and drinks in a fun and casual atmosphere, enjoy BEENZY'S BAR & GRILL, which is open for lunch, dinner and late night food. Our friendly, courteous servers will keep the food hot and the beers cold late into the night. At BEENZY'S BAR & GRILL you can unwind and watch the flat screen televisions, plus our large screen television for those special sporting events. Don't forget, we have happy hour Monday - Friday from 4:00pm - 7:00pm, Dart Board, Pool Table and a great Juke Box. BEENZY'S BAR & GRILL is the place to be on Long Island.

Nice save. You the owner, then? It's hard to know which lie to believe - you either lied about being a part of some TriMet kiddie lynch mob or about not even living in this state.

If you don't want a reaction from people, don't threaten their kids. As to your quote, the girls were doing nothing criminal - or even against rider policy. The policy breaker was the driver.

Unless you're lying about who you are, you'd have no clue what that policy is.

The goals of policy may vary widely according to the organization and the context in which they are made. Broadly, policies are typically instituted in order to avoid some negative effect that has been noticed in the organization, or to seek some positive benefit.

You know Beenzy's is a lesbian bar, right? Oops.

"You know Beenzy's is a lesbian bar, right?"

I think I'm gonna die laughing...

hehe, GOTCHA!

Got me, nothing. You are only as anonymous as your IP address. Just go back to your job and I'll go back to mine. Protecting my kids is my job. Yours is presumably something other than threatening minors.

the only one being threatened here is the poor bus driver!

It is an agenda that they basically set in the late 1980s, in a book called 'After the Ball,' where they laid out a six-point plan for how they could transform the beliefs of ordinary Americans with regard to homosexual behavior — in a decade-long time frame.... They admit it privately, but they will not say that publicly. In their private publications, homosexual activists make it very clear that there is an agenda. The six-point agenda that they laid out in 1989 was explicit: Talk about gays and gayness as loudly and as often as possible... Portray gays as victims, not as aggressive challengers... Give homosexual protectors a just cause... Make gays look good... Make the victimizers look bad... Get funds from corporate America.

this is my final post on the subject, the i will go back to my life and you can go back to yours.

And the key phrase is:

PORTRAY GAYS AS VICTIMS NOT AS AGGRESSIVE CHALLENGERS!

I’ll say it again, those two girls CHALLENGED the bus driver which is what caused this whole incident!

Hello people, I have been watching this site and just got a call from the portland mercury regarding all this mess. Apparently I have played a role in all this by posting the picture of the girls onto the trimet operators website. That picture was on the katu web site and I routinely put news articles onto the trimet operators site. I have removed the pictures and hopefully nobody actually believes any of this exclusion talk cause it aint possible! There are over 1300 bus drivers and they dont know each other! MY APOLOLOGIES...