cosmolinguist | Yellow bus (Reply)

Going to an in-person work meeting this afternoon was my first time on an official Bee Network bus (they just got to my part of the city a week or two ago). Immediately, the driver has already given me absolutely brilliant service.

When I got on, he asked where I was getting off and when I told him he said there's a diversion today and then said where I should get off instead! This is absolutely the best I could hope for as a blind bus passenger, I'm so impressed with that driver.

Also, the audio announcements have kicked in (I think they were missing for the first stop or two after I got on, but I might have just missed them?). First hearing that "this is a [number] service to [destination]" automatic announcement had a surprisingly strong effect on me: I actually jumped a little in my seat and then felt weirdly emotional.

Even when I don't "need" them because this is my most familiar route, the audio announcements feel like a big deal. I'm always talking about their importance at work so you'd think I wouldn't be surprised to feel like they're important, yet here I was.

In my own city, not a stressful trip to That London where everything is unfamiliar and I'm anxiously waiting for one stop that I hope sounds like the one I've memorized. There is infrastructure here to support me, I'm not on my own. That's an incredible feeling.