The pandemic started four years ago. Here are some little vignettes and observances I scribbled from time to time, mostly during the first three months. These are all true, and pretty much as I wrote them except for editing for clarity. The ones here pretty much take place around transit situations, mainly because that's where I ended up having to time to jot them down. I think most happened between March and May of 2020, other than that I didn’t keep track of dates.
At the bottom there is a link for photos.
TP TRIUMPH
Waiting for the bus out of North East this morning. A guy waiting with me has a brand new 12-pack of toilet paper. He scored it at Sanders Market on his way to the stop, and is really feeling triumphant, except that he has to visit his doctor in Erie and now he'll be dragging that pack of TP around to his errands till the next bus into North East. I joke that he might make some friends when they see the prize he's carrying. "Oh hell with them!" he said angrily. I said you know I was just joking right? We exchanged a couple more empty shelf stories and then the bus came.
SHE GOT A CARD
"I got a card! I got a card!"
I'm standing at 10th and French and a 60-ish woman sitting in a rollator walker is sucking on some weed.
"That lady saw me pull this out and she took off around the corner" she chuckles pointing in the lady's direction. "I don't care! I got the card I got the card"
I guess that means it's legal medicinal weed. My main concern is it really reeks. Also, when people exhale weed or vape they shoot their breath out. Ugh. I move away, card or not.
INTERMODAL
I had to stop at the Intermodal Center, which houses EMTA customer service and the Greyhound station. Today things are deserted. I was hungry so I went to the snack machine and pulled out my little jar of alcohol and wiped down the buttons on the machine and then wiped down the packaging on my snack
I waited over by the Little Library box painted like an EMTA bus, completely empty now, probably for health reasons, all those hands browsing through books.
UNHOUSED
stuff on different days:
Coming into downtown in the early morning, unhoused people suddenly more visible, especially since nobody else on the streets.
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Some released from prison due to COVID. Not all, they have to meet criteria like nonviolent crimes.
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A guy who had just been released from Erie County Prison was taking the Route 27 to the Interstate, where he said someone was waiting to pick him up. He had been panhandling for bus fare.
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A lady says she is struggling so i give her a couple dollars. I don't know her housing status.
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Some services closed for those without housing.
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People avoiding handling money so not a lot of spare change for panhandling.
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Many come to bus shelters. Sometimes not so polite about it, being territorial about the benches.
9th & PEACH
Various days:
May 26 (?) 1137am 9th & Peach the two benches are full of "the regulars," ie, people who aren't exactly waiting for the bus. Some unhoused, some not.
I am standing at the north end of the benches, looking toward W. 10th so I'll be ready for my bus. An annoying man sitting at the south end sees me looking in that direction and says "what are you looking at?!" I said I was watching for the bus to turn. "There ain't no buses come here!" he says angrily..
An elderly man with a beard looks up from his book and calmly advises me, "Best thing is to have a loss of hearing so you don't have to listen to that garbage."
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I want to check on a fellow I knew since he was a kid. I'll call him Skip. He often lives on the streets. I go to the 9th & Peach, as I’ve seen him hanging out there before. They tell me he has gone to relieve himself and will be back in a bit. They then start trading reviews of the places to go when nature calls, since many places with indoor bathrooms are closed up. I feel safe in saying most people living on the street prefer using an actual restroom or privy instead of hunting for a spot. I want to make sure to point that out so you understand the next entry is not making sweeping generalizations.
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The situation at the 9th & Peach stop had really become an issue. I decided I would call Health Department next day and explain there was a public health situation at that stop. I will spare you the details, but someone(s) was using the area at and around the bench to as a bathroom. I didn't understand because I thought that the Upper Room had set up of a couple of Porta johns, and that was only a very short block away from the bench, but who knows the situation. Turned out I didn't need to contact the Health Department because the 9th & Peach benches had been completely removed overnight (?) and the area cleaned up. I didn't see this type of situation anywhere else during that time.
SOUP NUTSY
Waiting at the 10th & French stop and the seats are all taken. An odd young man who is eating some take-out tells me to stay away from his soup. I said what the hell do I want with your soup. At first I thought he was accusing me of being a soup thief but I really think he was telling me not to breathe on it. The nerve! He was not a rider, just using the bench to eat his takeout and crowding out actual riders. It was nice out and there were other places downtown to sit down and eat, but he had to come here and be rude. If riders need to sit they can only do it at a bus bench, non-riders could sit anywhere else. [as the pandemic wore on, I became more outspoken toward non-riders being rude like this at bus stop benches.
SO FAR SO GOOD
Six feet apart on the bus, wearing a mask. So far everyone seems to be cooperating.
COMING BACK
Ridership has gone down, laid off drivers worried about their jobs. Company offers free rides for month of August to get people back on buses.
Riders coming back slowly.
AC rage: A free rider who was just there for the air conditioning became angry because the driver had opened the windows so that the air would circulate (to lower viral concentration). Rider went up and down the aisles angrily slamming windows closed and demanding AC.
Some photos from first year of pandemic (2020)
Mostly transit-related. Click to enlarge
Bus changes due to loss of ridership during pandemic.
No hustle and bustle downtown
Sparse business at Harborcreek Wal-Mart, normally packed. View from the North East Route 16 bus.
Six feet apart
Empty free library at Intermodal Center, maybe because passengers handling them caused concern.
I posted this when it happened. Driver asked him to wear mask and to distance and passenger refused, even though the driver was distressed and insisted. Limited hours at Greyhound station. This was before Greyhound closed their station in 2022.
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Empty bike racks at Wal-Marts, due to supply issues from China
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| Schedules were trimmed due to loss of ridership | |
There was a coin shortage curing the pandemic, and Dollar General advertised for coins in exchange for dollar bills.
2020 Census used advertising on EMTA bus shelters.
