My bus commute

I love living in Seattle but I despise driving in traffic. And Seattle has traffic. Lots of traffic.

Luckily, I seldom join the ranks of daily commuters who drive to work. My current work arrangement brings me into an office two or three days each week. I drive to one site but it’s a reverse commute against the main flow of traffic. The other work site I report to weekly sends me into downtown Seattle, then north. I use transit for this trip.

I enjoy using transit. Instead of stressing out in traffic, I can read a book, catch up on emails, people watch or engage in small talk with other commuters. I’ve had some interesting conversations with other bus riders over the years. Conversations have ranged from sharing local knowledge with visitors and swapping injury stories with another rider using crutches to learning about the craft of wood carving from a Native American.

Sadly, those kinds of conversations happen less frequently. Today, most transit riders prefer to interact with their personal devices rather than with other passengers. I snapped this candid shot of a fellow passenger on a bus commute. She was absorbed by whatever was on her screen.

As I looked around, I observed that nearly everyone else was doing the same thing. With a wistful sigh, I turned on my phone and scrolled through my social media accounts.