The Few, The Proud, The Bus Riders

No seat, no fare! they chant, in a rebellion against second-class treatment

I ride the bus in Los Angeles.

The way I saw it, L.A. didn't need one more guy sitting in an idling car. But this confession, I've found, can stop conversations cold. It's not quite the impact you'd get from saying, "By the way, I murdered six people this morning, and, boy, am I hungry." But people generally respond as if you've said you ride a dinosaur to the office.

One reason is that trains and buses are shunned by 97% of all L.A. County commuters, and otherwise likable people will actually tell you that what you drive is who...

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