margu43542?

Those are some pretty weird measurements.

Workers of the world unite?

I found this comment Mr. Margu posted to another Portland blog about MAX:

Although the yellow line has definately improved the "look" of interstate avenue, its my understanding that many people that are transit dependent much prefered the bus to the max due to the more frequent stops and the "personal" service afforded to them by bus drivers over the max train drivers. (such as the ability to make "special" stops). Plus when the max breaks down the whole line goes dead which didnt happen when the bus serviced that area.

Talk about special stops...

I think there's some sort of code in there, perhaps hidden in the quoted words.

look
personal
special

Maybe an anagram?

More disturbing to us were the promises of retribution against the girls made on another blog.

"Maybe an anagram?"

Look! Rapscallions Pee!

Okay, one more anagram:

"Panel: Poor kiss locale."

Ronnda—

Where?

amy@portlandmercury.com

More lovely allegedly Trimet operator comments here: http://trimetblues.blogspot.com/2007/06/singing-trimet-blues.html

Did you hear that shit put out by fetsch? 2 lesbos having a sex show are called vunerable! what a fucking laugh, i bet ya the driver was a white male, he is probably going to get fired now!

and

Why does any of this shit surprise you guys, this is par for the course! Let everybody do whatever the fuck they want on the bus, dont enforce fares, and then you wont get fired when some dyke bitches decide to make up some shit about you.

and

hey the other web site has a picture of the two lying lesbo cunts

Well done. Makes me want to hop on a bus right now.

I know this is a pretty sensitive thing but is it maybe getting blown out of proportion? Is it possible that these girls were actually being a little over the top? It may be possible that they were flaunting their sexuality and ramped it up just to get the goat of others on the bus. We ARE talking about 14 year olds here. I wouldn't want to see people getting all hot and heavy on the bus regardless of sexual preference.

Holeeeeee. Shit.

"two obvious (just look at the picture of those two) juvenile delinquents who I am sure have no respect for any kind of authority"

?? Because they're dressed in black...or...?

I can't believe the hate these people are spewing over a driver's bad judgment call. Why can't they just admit he made a mistake?

I'm going to mount a rainbow-painted RPG launcher to the hood of my Camaro. And the next empty bus driving to the barn that hogs up two lanes, or attempts to cut me off gets vaporized!

We ARE talking about 14 year olds here.

We WERE talking about 14 year olds. Now we're talking about adult transit operators (or people claiming to be transit operators)—spewing all kinds of hate and anger toward teenagers!

Why does that blog appear in the main to be a bunch of whining crybaby white men?

It looks like there's more than one lazy, over-paid fuckhead at T-met who deserves to get fired.
C'mon, assholes, you think there's a lotta love out there for you when you tie up the job market with your tax-subsidized paycheck?
Yeah, attack some 14-year-old girls, real classy...

/fapfapfap

I'm new to this stuff...can someone tell me what "/fapfapfap" means? Unless it's something I don't want to know the definition of.

Though the girls' choice of dress makes them look un-cheerleader-like, both tutor special education kids. One won two scholastic achievement awards this year and the other is an honor roll student with a 3.8 GPA. Actually, though she doesn't look like the norm., one IS a competition cheerleader. These are no drugged-out "carps." Even if they were, "carps" are people too.

"I can't believe the hate these people are spewing over a driver's bad judgment call. Why can't they just admit he made a mistake?"

ahh, probably because in their fantasy worlds it would be perfectly normal behavior to berate, harrass and threaten gay people whenever they felt like it.

so, in the sense of 'admitting mistakes,' there really is no 'mistake' that was committed.

surprise surprise- the trimet blues blog is now empty.

This easy: the two girls are children, the TriMet driver is an adult. It is the clear ethical responsibility of adults to keep children from harm. Forcing them off the bus was wrong: if all TriMet drivers did it, everyone would see it as wrong. It is the functional equivalent of a fireman refusing to put out a blaze at a gay or African-American person's home.

You people make me sick. Homosexuality is against God's will and the poor driver was only carrying out God's will to maintain sanity in this world. What has this world come to in the name of political correctness. You sicko liberals! Do you want your kids to rot in hell?

"You people make me sick."

Well, something did; that's for sure.

"Do you want your kids to rot in hell?"

Is that a stop on the TriMet line?

hmm. if it's a choice between them rotting in hell or being stuck w/ insufferable self-righteous hypocrites like you, yeah, I think I'd pick the former. At least there's freedom and room for a bit of self-expression.

Lordy-Lord-Lord!

If this were a boy/girl kiss-off no-one woulda said anything. Period.

The reality is people, we do not know the whole story and this whole thing is a whackjob.

Yes. I do believe he should not have kicked them off the bus. Yes. He should NOT have made a public statement of his private thoughts. As a TriMet driver he needed to remember he's representing the company. No. I don't think he should get fired.

I DO think the girls should have had more respect for the other bus riders and not been mashing face. I don't like it when ANY couple is halfway to the bedroom in public. But again, I wasn't there and have no idea how far they were. My guess is that when the woman objected the teens - as most rebellious teens do - started macking out exaggeratedly.

Can't we all get over this? There are simply too many other things in the world to worry about.

I'm totally on the side of the Tri-Met driver(s) on this one.

First off, Tri-Met drivers are on a whole the rudest I've ever encountered. I don't know if Tri-Met hires rude drivers or the job makes them that way, but they are rude. These girls aren't the first to be called sicko's nor the first to be kicked off a bus.

Secondly, it wasn't as if the driver took this upon himself to single (er, double) these girls out. I believe the agreed upon story by both parties is that the girls were kissing, a passenger complained to the driver, the driver asked them to "knock it off", the girls did not stop kissing, then the driver kicked them off. Where's the problem.

And lastly, this is a point which I wish more in the gay-rights community would appreciate: Regardless of the fact that a straight couple would or would not have kicked off the bus, the only reason that this is a news story is because we are talking about a gay couple. Couldn't this fall into the dreaded "special rights" category?

"These girls aren't the first to be called sicko's nor the first to be kicked off a bus."

In the first place, no one could confirm anyone has ever been kicked off of a TriMet bus for kissing. Many other people have been kicked off of the bus for doing things that are illegal and against the rules. That's fair. Kids are not to be kicked off of buses for any reason, let alone for something that is not illegal or against any rule. Lastly, anyone who felt unjustly punished by a TriMet driver ought to have spoken-up. Many who chose to file lawsuits instead drove-up the fares and everyone's insurance rates in doing so, and also proved nothing to anyone but a bunch of lawyers who really don't care about the point.

"...the girls did not stop kissing, then the driver kicked them off."

This is NOT the agreed upon story, as the girls did NOT begin kissing again. They had stopped as asked and were kicked off when one put her arm around the other - who was starting to cry because the driver had hit at her and called her pretty awful things. The problem is that he's an adult in authority and neither his nor his one passenger's personal issues ought to affect how he does his job.

"...the only reason that this is a news story is because we are talking about a gay couple."

Actually, the only reason I'M talking about this is because we are talking about two girls who I love. If it had been my heterosexual daughter and her boyfriend, my individual reaction would have been the same. Adults in public positions do not get to treat our kids any way they see fit if they have a personal issue with their non-threatening behavior.

The adult had a choice to react in an adult and professional manner, as he chose to work with a public that can often be offensive and with all manner of kids from all walks of life - all of whom sometimes make inappropriate choices in social situations. Such momentary lapses of reason do not justify treating anyone's child like garbage.

Man, who knew that Trimet buses were being operated by neo-nazi homophobes, huh?!
First off, the nazi thug who kicked these girls off SHOULD be fired for not following protocal.
Trimet rules state that a driver MUST call for assistance before removing any MINORS off a bus, & he didn't do that!
Second off, somebody PLEEEAAAASSSSSSE find out who the nazi perp. is. Get his name & PHOTO & put it online. It's already known that he drives the no.12.
Somebody find out his address & phone no. too.

REGARDING MY ARTICLE ON THE 2 14 YEAR OLDS KICKED OFF THE BUS.

I was alerted that my article made this paper and I am here to say that you misunderstand the context of which was said. The trimet website is where drivers go to vent and has never been intended for non-Trimet drivers. Like anyother job out there, people sit around the table and talk crap about their job, people, employees and etc. In most cases we don't mean or respond in any way like the way that we talk amongs each other. I was a bit rough on Trimet only because we are restricted in some ways from being able to keep the bus neutral so that everyone feels safe and comfortable. My comments were made only in response to the article that i was reading and feeling a little worked up over the whole thing that I lashed out in the form of venting with the idea that only drivers see these postings. I had no idea that people outside of Trimt were able to view these articles which is now the creators fault for not restricting access. There are a lot of things in life that I do not agree on of which I DO NOT discuss with passengers on my bus. My venting has always been with other drivers as we ALL have done since day one. These articles were taken without permission and placed in this website under the freedom of speech act as the same law allows us to vent under the free speech act. It must be understood that venting is just that and in most cases, that is where it stays. I have been at Trimet for 17 years and love my job as well as the company. I don't always agree on things, but it is what it is. We all come from different walks of life and we all have the right to decide what we feel is right and what is wrong. Although I got amped up over the articles and postings from drivers, I was in the right state of mind to exercise my freedom of speech in the form of regret over what this city has become. Since I can do nothing about it, venting is my only solution from taking it too personally. I want this paper to understand one thing. My freedom of speech is controlled and carefully monitored while I am behind the wheel of the bus. Outside of my bus, I have the right to discuss any issue of my choice in what was supposed to be membership only website. I own 3 forum websites myself and it is open for debate as also opinions will be included as well. We are not bad people, we are people who see more things in a day then any other profession and unless we vent and express our selves, then we hold it in until we explode. This Trimet website is out escape. Please respect that and know that we do not take that to the bus with us. What ever the driver was feeling that day when the two girls were on the bus can only be explained from her vantage point. We are all human and will make mistakes and there is nothing we can do about it. The only thing we can do is learn from it and grow. I have noticed responses from people here and the things that they said about trimet as well as looking at there website and I was equally floored by it. One in particular is a satanist, and bus drivers are labled as hard as we are. In conclusion, My name was posted here in your paper and website. Either my name is dropped, I will initiate a law suit for not having my permission to publisize it. You are also exposing me and I will be monitoring this situation closely. This is getting out of hand and I will not have my name dragged into this since I did nothing wrong but express opinion in what was to be a private website. I will be contacting my attorney and will be monitoring this until such time that I feel it is resolved. I do apologize for mispelled words and grammer as my spell check and my tyoing fast is missing those points.

So, Terry, if you venting your opinions on the trimet site was a matter of freedom of speech, then the Mercury reposting it on the blog means that your freedom of speech has been multiplied! The wider the audience, the more expression, the more freedom! You should be celebrating!

But, if you're worried about your name being used, I recommend you go back in time, grow a fucking brain, and use a goddamn pseudonym (that means fake name) on the site. Using your own name on a site that is--despite what you may believe--accessible to the public makes you too stupid for words. Good luck with that lawsuit, though. I'm sure it'll work out just fine for you.

Terry—

You said "The trimet website is where drivers go to vent and has never been intended for non-Trimet drivers."

Actually, Terry, according to the home page for the Trimet Operators' Yahoo! Group, the group is "for Trimet operators to share stories, concerns, favorite lines and buses etc...... Mechanics and enthusiasts are welcome too."

As someone who rides TriMet, I'd consider myself—and any other member of the public who ever rides the bus, which is most of the city—an enthusiast. Your comments—including another one yesterday that referred to Portland as a "modern day Sodom and Gomorrah....The things I put up with on a daily basis is beyond what anyone should put up with. The gays, drunks, drug abusers, and all of the misfits seem to be running the show these days. I am very sick of this and what can we do...probably nothing."—are surely embarrassing for you to see in a wider context, but they were public in the first place.

I post regularly on the TriMet operators' list, and am a driver. And yeah, the driver who kicked off the girls made a mistake.

Since I wasn't there, I have no idea about the girls' intentions, whether to freak the mundanes or simply enjoy one another in a moment of burgeoning adolescent lust. Either way, PDAs (Public Displays of Affection), regardless of age and/or gender, are not easily tolerated in closed containers.... and by that I mean both a bus and a culture that many Western Europeans might laugh at, but that we live in.

A bothered passenger would not have had any recourse while riding on Max (which brings up a whole 'nuther issue: passengers being intimidated by genuinely menacing behavior on the trains) -- but on the bus it's often the driver who gets called upon as an authority and/or referee. This particular driver made a bad call. Regardless of personal opinion, s/he needed to handle the situation differently.

That said, I urge everyone on both sides of this issue to avoid stereotyping. There are savvy bus drivers and passengers, as well as clueless versions of both, and even mean sadistic versions of both.

Get to know one another as individuals, and make choices accordingly. Spending energy on sweeping generalizations leads to more heat and less light.

I am a little lost...so the lesbians are 'sickos' because they are gay? If you look up 'gay' in the dictionary there's a picture of a guy who doesn't enjoy watching two chicks make out. *zing* On a serious note I will NEVER ride a trimet bus again after seeing what their drivers are saying behind my back. I really don't need to be called a cunt by some bigot that is sooo angry to be making $100k a year.

Daycode: your kind sentiments are understood by many and appreciated. That said, I wish you had said them before drivers took it upon themselves to threaten my kid. Whether they thought it was public or not, it's scary to see public employees express wishing to harm kids in what they think is a secret setting.

To the contrary, our only request has been that the individual driver be disciplined and I have made it very clear in TV interviews that we do not believe TriMet or all of its drivers to be bad. Just the ones who take-out their frustration on 3 kids. Thanks for being a good driver and a patient person. I hope that catches-on.

This whole thing has been blown way out of proportion, how did it ever make the papers in the first place? Who called who to get this thing started? They got kicked off the bus, so they told thier moms? And mom called the mercury? Anybody know?

Oh rhonda, could you please elaborate a little on the harm aspect of the story? Did they actually get lost or were in real danger as a result of being ejected from the bus? Do you actually believe that trimet bus drivers are now involved in a conspiracy to harm yours and others kids? Thats all very interesting.

O'Reilly Factor Flash

Unresolved Problems Segment
14-year-old lesbian kiss causes controversy

When two teenage girls began kissing on a public bus in Portland, Oregon, one passenger complained and the driver asked the girls to leave the bus. Ronnda Zezula, mother of one of the girls, conceded that her daughter's behavior was inappropriate. "Our own family doesn't support public displays of affection. Unfortunately, she made a bad judgment call, as teenagers do. I would just like drivers to know that, regardless of how they feel about a passenger, they don't have the right to treat them like garbage." Portland radio host Lars Larson said most of his callers have sided with the driver. "The girls were engaging in a public display of affection - whether you're gay, straight, or otherwise, if you do that kind of thing the bus driver should have the right to kick you off. If they're old enough to ride the bus by themselves, they should be old enough to behave."

TriMet drivers are adults and public servants, and as such have an obligation to drive the bus, maintain safety, and collect fares. It is not theirs to enforce morality. Leaving two children without transportation is irresponsible and unethical, no matter how "icky" their behavior was to the driver or anyone else. I know that some of you will hold that they could just get on the next bus, but that assumes that next driver is OK with lesbians. If all drivers have the right to boot off those they disapprove of, then it could come to pass that TriMet would be a gay-free zone: a clearly wrong outcome.

Thats in interesting point Carl! And just how are bus drivers to determine the age of everyone riding the buses these days? Some 13 year olds look like 21 year olds and some 21 year olds look like 13 year olds? I actually know a bus driver and some of these kids in some area's of portland will kill you if you look at them the wrong way! Are they children too? I think Mr O'Reillys point about riding the bus alone is enough evidence that they are of age to be kicked off for inapproriate behavior. Now if children are riding the bus when they should be supervised by an adult, it seems child protective services should look at the parents and why they have abandonded thier children to public buses when they should be driving them were they need to go. There are predetors looking for targets all over the city these days. No child should be riding the buses if they arent old enough to know what they are doing.

I forgot to mention, at the begining of this blog there is a picture of the two "children", I would definatley not use the term "children" to describe either of them. I imagine you know that they are not children indeed. Maybe you can explain to me why you think they should be classified as children.

Carl, I’ve actually just started revieiwing this particular story, and your use of the world children got my attention, hence I went to the dictionary to find out exactly what the world children actually means.

The world children is plural of child, and the definition of a child is:

1 a : an unborn or recently born person b dialect : a female infant
2 a : a young person especially between infancy and youth b : a childlike or childish person

Now Carl, would you say in all honesty that the two people pictured above fit this definition?

No answer Carl? I didn’t think so. I think I have the picture. Basically there is no story here at all. The two people pictured above engaged in behavior that was unacceptable to other passengers and the driver. They were asked to refrain from the behavior they did not. They were asked to leave the bus. Where’s the story? Homophobia? Nice try but it doesn’t wash. They were children? That claim is even more outrageous!

Now in regards to the conspiracy noted in this particular article, Margulies states that was nothing but an internet rumor. The bus drivers I have talked to are not even aware of the story at all!

I guess that nobody actually reads this paper!

You know "bob", a black man & a white woman holding hands would be unacceptable to alot ov people. Does that mean THEY should be kicked off a bus?

Regardless ov what YOU say, there IS a story here. Homophobia - YES!
Sexism - YES!
Should the pig be fired - YES!!!

BTW, i've noticed that the TrimetBlues HateBlog is nolonger avalable. surprise, surprise.

Damos; It seems that many people disagree with you on this.

And I see you have your own version of hate and vengence.

Hate is hate, thats for sure, no matter who its aimed at!

They are MINORS, not children perhaps BUT MINORS, and women. Lets face it, if they were two boys, they probably would have a better chance then girls in a unknown neighborhood. THEY WERE REMOVED FROM THE BUS and the driver did break several policies regarding minors. As someone who has ridden the #12 and the Trimet for years, there is always PDA going on, i have seen the driver ask the people to stop, as he apparently did with the girls before kicking them off in the middle of a route, and NOT at a set bus stop. Hatemongering and homophobia aside, this was putting two minors in a possible dangerous situation, and two female minors at that!

Yes I have heard that point, they were minors, indeed. I have to agree with Mr. O'Rielly however, if your old enough to ride the bus alone then you are old enough to behave, and if you engage in behaviour that is not acceptable then you are subject to be asked to leave. Transit buses are not school buses, they don't function with the same rules and procedures. How would a transit bus driver ascertain the age of a rider anyway? The two 'minors' in the picture above do not strike me, at least on first appearences, as being unable to take care of themselves. I personally don't find much of a story here, sorry, I know most of you disagree. I suppose if your looking at a lawsuit it serves your purpose to try to find some sort of issue to hang your hat on.
What I would really like to find out is how this story made it to the media in the first place, all the way to the national news! Who called who to get this in the media?