Jeff Delp's Blog
Beloved Community on the Bus / Jan 25, 10:20 AM
I love to ride public transportation. It is one of the biggest reasons that I desire to live in an urban area. I love the freedom it gives to all persons of society regardless of status. Kids, elderly, disabled, those who cannot afford cars, all can enjoy the benefits of a decent public transit system equally. Riding public transit puts one in close proximity with people that they wouldn’t necessarily be around under circumstances of their own choosing, which for me adds a little variety to life that I enjoy. It enables you to interact with the city more as the destination becomes less important and the journey becomes more important as you pass through neighborhoods, coffee shops, parks, etc…
This morning’s journey downtown on the bus started relatively normally for me, waiting for a bus that was 10 minutes late. As the bus continued along its route to downtown through various neighborhoods, it continued to fill up until it was standing room only. The bus was full of people going to work, school, or like myself, to run errands. I was enthralled with a book, Jesus and the Disinherited (yes I read curriculum books too MY folks!!) when I noticed a person in a wheel chair getting onto the bus at a stop. Because the bus was packed full, 10-12 people had to leave their seats and their standing positions to make room for the person in a wheel chair to fit into the spot of the bus reserved for such an occurrence. Not only that, the 30-40 other people on the bus had to wait 4-5 minutes as the bus driver assisted the person as she got strapped into place.
What amazed me about this process was not that people actually got up, or that the bus even had a place for a wheel chair, or that the MARTA bus driver was helpful; I was amazed at everyone’s reaction on the bus. People got up and moved without saying a word, or if they did say a word, it was to the person in the wheel chair because they knew her. No one on the bus was audibly upset at the bus taking an extra 5 minutes to get downtown because of the person in the wheel chair. It was at that moment that I realized that the bus was a community. We were all part of a community. Our common goal was to get downtown, but we couldn’t do it by ourselves, we could only do it together. There was nothing any one person could do, maybe save the bus driver, to get downtown faster. We were all in it together, and it benefited all of us to work together so that we could all get to where we wanted to go faster.
Now contrast this with a similar example on the highway. Instead of a person with a disability, imagine a car with a disability. A car is disabled on the side of I-75/85 on its way to downtown during the morning commute. In good Atlanta fashion, even though it is pulled off to the side of the road, it slows traffic down. Instead of all of the traffic stopping to wait for the disabled car to get the help it needs and move on, 1,2, or 3 cars can inch by at a time. Gradually, cars try to move over to the lanes that are allowing traffic through because they as an individual can get by and get to where they want to go. The person with the car that is disabled is left until either someone chooses to care, or professional help is summoned to their aide.
The two instances provide a stark contrast in how we relate to one another as a society. On the bus, everyone had the same fate and each individuals fate could not be altered by their own choosing, no matter how hard they tried (unless they wanted to walk the 2 miles to downtown). On the highway, each passing car could change their own fate by getting into the correct lane and waiting their turn to get by. What ensued on the bus was a community that allowed space and time for anybody and everybody to get to where they wanted to go equally. What ensues on the highway is a each man for themselves, firsts be first mindset in which only those with the means can get by, the disabled driver doesn’t get by.
A popular question these days in light of rising gas prices and talk of global warming is, What would Jesus Driver? What if we dropped the “what” and just asked, “Would Jesus Driver?” That is maybe an answer that we don’t want to hear, but as I continue to traverse the city on bus and train, I have become more and more aware of the missed opportunities to build community and relationships when we are sitting behind the wheel of a car. I find myself part of another community when I ride the bus and train and that seems right to me. In the end, I was glad that I choose to ride the bus downtown this morning instead of driving and I will continue to try to do it in the future.
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Very insightful and in true Jeff Delp fashion! Has Sam started to ride along yet? Just thought I would say hello….I got a job in the city and I will be embarking on a new journey…DART! Sara and I miss you guys and know you are doing great things! Peace
By Benjamin Wills / Jan 28, 09:06 PM / #