Matt, I think you're pretty interesting but if the complaint turns out to be bogus, it would be fun to watch you grovel a bit.

Ha ha

Shucks. There I was, thinking I might win the Pulitzer for balanced reporting.

to stick up for matt a bit...

what does groveling have to do with it?

he's being a journalist! that means approaching allegations like this with skepticism and also the assumption that the person making the complaint isn't completely talking bullshit (which, if the tri met statement is true, she is).

matt doesn't need to feel guilty for thinking this story needed to be looked into, and if he really was that big of a fair weather journalist, would he have even posted this update?

get real.

I am going to say I agree with #4, I have disagreed with several of Matt's posts, but in this case I would rather know about it at every step of the way.

Good work Matt

I was kidding you wankers. Chill out.

And what's up with wanker be flagged as a non-existent word in Firefox!?

Matt is a bogus story survivor.

I hope they make this video available, I'd really like to see it.

Methinks Ms. Sansom is a nutbag on the order of certain scrawny models who wail on their boyfriends when they don't get their way and then blog their version of the event for attention.

Agreed with #8. The tone of the letter she sent in sounded like she was just being entirely indignant of being told to get on another bus because one was running behind schedule, so she looked and exaggerated, possibly fabricating, any part of her experience (note how she uses the classic pathological trick of how EVERYONE was STARING, HORRIFIED! at the incident) to make herself feel justified for being slighted.

Everybody love to hate the bus driver.

The bus driver is always guilty, right?

Shit, see how y'all do without any bus drivers to pick on.

The Mercury is the media leader in Portland for Trimet bashing.

Lots of people ready to rag on the Tri-Met driver..but NOT ready to take responsibility for THEIR actions!

Did you know that 95% of the reason a TM bus runs late is because of things a passenger can control and drivers have NO CONTROL over?

Some Examples: standing at the stop for 15-20 min or more, but not having fare out and READY when boarding; taking your sweet time getting on, and then going all the way to the back; using your stroller as a moving van and then taking 3 minutes to move it out of the aisle/fold it (after arguing with the driver about it), elderly/diasbled folks that CAN'T move fast because of impairment/age, one adult boarding with SIX kids and then thinkng it's cute to let them each put some money in the farebox..I could go on.

SOME of these things are unavoidable and are no one's "fault". Others are just because the passengers involved are thinking stricly about themselves, and not about who they are affecting. Their 15-30 second delay coupled with someone else's 15-30 second delay takes that bus that WAS on time, and makes it 8 minutes late in a hurry, and YOU don't cut ME any slack for that. THATS why it SEEMS to you like I drive like a maniac! I am trying to make up some of that time lost, hitting red lights makes me lose the time made up, some fool at a bus stop who DOESN'T want my bus but wants the other bus doesn't shake their head "NO" or wave me off but expects me to read their mind and KNOW that they don't want my bus and looks at me like I'm nuts because I actually wasted EVEN MORE TIME and stopped for them..and then now I have to listen to you bitch about being late, when I didn't cause it, YOU DID! And don't forget the folks just getting on who have no clue (most by choice) why I'm late, they just know I'm late and have to make a show of it by looking at their watch as I pull up, like it's some big revelation that I didn't know. They WOULD know if they really wanted to think about it for a moment, but it's so much easier to blame someone else, right?

AND YET...I STILL LOVE MY JOB but I DONT DESERVE to be dumped on by you. I am one of those "freaks" that still care about my passengers and try to start each day "fresh", until I get beat up one too many times, then my attitude starts to slip. You can only get sucker punched so many times. Now, which scenario do you think I prefer? 50 happy people behind me without a care in the world because they are geting to their destination on time in a bus with smooth starts and stops..OR one where the driver is starting to get (OR IS) pissy and is braking heavy and starting rough and everyone on the bus has a bad attitude because the bus is late? I can tell you which one I prefer? WE DON'T LIKE YOU BEING LATE ANY MORE THAN YOU DO!!!!!

YES, there ARE jerk bus drivers out there (and I am truly sorry about that), just like there are jerk waitresses, jerk gas station attendants and jerk cops. Does that mean I shouldn't be in a customer service job? For some of them, yes..but for most of them/us..we didn't start out that way. We started out loving our job but finally got tired of being beat up. Buy a Day Pass (Hell, I'll give you one if you tell me why you're there AND you do it legitimately) and ride an 8 hr shift on a 72 or 6 with me and see/put up with what I do. Then do that for a week. Bet you won't do it. Not so easy to keep a rosy attitude. Folks are QUICK to call in a complaint..not so quick to call in a compliment.

(For those folks who DO understand and are our "defenders", this is obviously not meant for you and I apologize.)

Lots of people ready to rag on the Tri-Met driver..but NOT ready to take responsibility for THEIR actions!

Did you know that 95% of the reason a TM bus runs late is because of things a passenger can control and drivers have NO CONTROL over?

Some Examples: standing at the stop for 15-20 min or more, but not having fare out and READY when boarding; taking your sweet time getting on, and then going all the way to the back; using your stroller as a moving van and then taking 3 minutes to move it out of the aisle/fold it (after arguing with the driver about it), elderly/diasbled folks that CAN'T move fast because of impairment/age, one adult boarding with SIX kids and then thinkng it's cute to let them each put some money in the farebox..I could go on.

SOME of these things are unavoidable and are no one's "fault". Others are just because the passengers involved are thinking stricly about themselves, and not about who they are affecting. Their 15-30 second delay coupled with someone else's 15-30 second delay takes that bus that WAS on time, and makes it 8 minutes late in a hurry, and YOU don't cut ME any slack for that. THATS why it SEEMS to you like I drive like a maniac! I am trying to make up some of that time lost, hitting red lights makes me lose the time made up, some fool at a bus stop who DOESN'T want my bus but wants the other bus doesn't shake their head "NO" or wave me off but expects me to read their mind and KNOW that they don't want my bus and looks at me like I'm nuts because I actually wasted EVEN MORE TIME and stopped for them..and then now I have to listen to you bitch about being late, when I didn't cause it, YOU DID! And don't forget the folks just getting on who have no clue (most by choice) why I'm late, they just know I'm late and have to make a show of it by looking at their watch as I pull up, like it's some big revelation that I didn't know. They WOULD know if they really wanted to think about it for a moment, but it's so much easier to blame someone else, right?

AND YET...I STILL LOVE MY JOB but I DONT DESERVE to be dumped on by you. I am one of those "freaks" that still care about my passengers and try to start each day "fresh", until I get beat up one too many times, then my attitude starts to slip. You can only get sucker punched so many times. Now, which scenario do you think I prefer? 50 happy people behind me without a care in the world because they are geting to their destination on time in a bus with smooth starts and stops..OR one where the driver is starting to get (OR IS) pissy and is braking heavy and starting rough and everyone on the bus has a bad attitude because the bus is late? I can tell you which one I prefer? WE DON'T LIKE YOU BEING LATE ANY MORE THAN YOU DO!!!!!

YES, there ARE jerk bus drivers out there (and I am truly sorry about that), just like there are jerk waitresses, jerk gas station attendants and jerk cops. Does that mean I shouldn't be in a customer service job? For some of them, yes..but for most of them/us..we didn't start out that way. We started out loving our job but finally got tired of being beat up. Buy a Day Pass (Hell, I'll give you one if you tell me why you're there AND you do it legitimately) and ride an 8 hr shift on a 72 or 6 with me and see/put up with what I do. Then do that for a week. Bet you won't do it. Not so easy to keep a rosy attitude. Folks are QUICK to call in a complaint..not so quick to call in a compliment.

(For those folks who DO understand and are our "defenders", this is obviously not meant for you and I apologize.)