What is the weirdest thing you’ve seen on the MAX, bus, streetcar or WES?
Keep Portland Weird. We’ve all heard it, we’ve all seen it. While we all may not particularly like that label (with others might), it got me thinking:
What is the weirdest thing you’ve seen on the MAX, bus, streetcar or WES?
Here, I’ll get things started. Go ahead and do please share in the comments for this post; I’m sure there will be many stories beating out my own personal ones!
The MAX
My wife seemingly sees all sorts of weird on the MAX. Me? In my hey-day of riding, I used to really only ride during the rush hours, hence I wouldn’t see much aside from crammed passangers around me. I guess I would then just have to say the homeless (?) kid that tries to sell candy bars. My older brother and I actually talked about it last weekend; to my surprise, he knew exactly who I was talking about. Why is seeing that guy selling candy bars on the MAX weird? Because shouldn’t that not be allowed…? I suppose it is, but whenever I see him, there seemingly isn’t a TriMet official around to tell him to deboard or otherwise.
The Bus
Here we go! I’ve seen some wild and wacky things while riding the bus. I’m a big fan and typically ride the 15, 20, 19 lines… which can produce some characters ever so often. Aside from the lady that takes her lapdog on the bus in a reusable Fred Meyer bag, I would have to say the weirdest thing I’ve come across when riding the bus was when two wheelchair-bound individuals were arguing over what spots they wanted in the front of the bus. Apparently they both wanted the left-hand side… and unfortunately the lady that was previously on the bus was already there. So the other wheelchair-bound individual was yelling at her and then started RAMMING into her with her chair! People on the bus were both gasping and laughing; it was really weird. The lady who had just got on then demanded to get right back off because she couldn’t have her spot… it was weird.
The Streetcar
I’ve only ridden the streetcar a handful of times and never have seen anything truly weird. Go figure.
The WES
Has anyone seen anything weird happen on the WES? It’s not like anyone rides it (obligatory Zoolander “Oh snap!” reference). But really, I’ve only had the pleasure of taking WES for the invitational preview event.
There you have it! Now, it’s your turn: have you experienced anything weird on any of TriMet’s four public transportation modes here in Portland? If so, please do share! I would love to hear about it!
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Comments
@Rachel that is weird. For me, if someone is a bit of a nut, then that individual is always a bit of a nut, each time I see him / her riding. Very strange..
I was on the Blue MAX heading downtown, when it started raining (ha, like it ever stops!), and we were pulling up to Lloyd Center stop. This couple had just reached the opened doors to enter the MAX when the girl stop her boyfriend to tell him that she really had to smoke some weed first, and asked if they could wait for the next MAX. The boyfriend refused because he didn’t want to be standing out in the rain, so he pulled her inside the MAX. Tempers flared and they had a semi-outburst at each other in front of everyone about how she wanted to smoke pot, and him yelling back at her that he didn’t care, he didn’t want to be standing in the rain. yeah, Awkward!
Eventually she resorted to curling up in a ball in a corner of the MAX and began rolling her joint…just as I was getting off.
i was riding line 4 on mississippi toward fessenden when an older, belligerent black gentleman boarded wearing a trench coat and had his wiener hanging out of his pants. one lady complained to the bus driver but he did nothing. when she de-boarded, i heard some girls in the back squealing and another man telling him he was nasty and he shouldn’t expose himself to young ladies.
that was weird, and gross. i am thankful that i didn’t actually see his junk.
Other then reading a book, with ear phones in and some woman complaining to me all the way from Gresham to Pioneer Place, that the Max driver had previously been an @$$ to her because she didn’t have a bus ticket…
The weirdest was the day I was suffering from allergies really badly. Some guy comes up to me asking if I had any coke. My immediate reply was “I don’t drink Soda Pop.” He corrected me in my assumption, to which I replied, “I see enough strange stuff without having to resort to drugs.” Him: “Oh. Want to buy some weed? It’s not a drug.”
Some good comments already! But about the kid selling candy bars, I’ve heard him say that he buys them with food benefits, which I think would make the reselling illegal (though I do have to credit his entrepreneurship). Also, I find the “It’s not a drug” funny.
OK, so I am not a regular rider… Sigh… But, I do have a couple of weird/funny things that have happened while I have been driving bus or MAX. 
Once, on the bus, this guy got off my bus through the front door, and I had front seat view of his classic “plumbers crack” - his pants were TOO low… I almost died laughing. The guy was probably around 40 - and a bit on the hefty side. And it was summer time. Ugh…
On the MAX: during last December snow storm we could barely go through some of the snow. At Old Town, eastbound, a snow plow had just cleared the road crossing the tracks in front of me, Everett. The result was a deep ridge of snow and ice crossing the tracks that I had to plow through to get up on the Steel Bridge. I took a few moments to look at it the mess in front of me, then decided it was OK to go through it.
I did, and both felt and heard the train crunch the ice - I thought that was pretty cool - and a bit weird…
I will let the rest of you tell about the weirdo’s that are on the train - I keep my door locked and the curtains drawn!!!
Just last week on the streetcar I had the misfortune to sit down near a very scary man (he looked like a serial killer), who began talking to the person next to me, saying “Someone’s going to die tonight.” He kept repeating that, embellishing it more and more about how he was going to kill someone, “Yeah, I’m just gonna go put a bullet in someone’s head tonight”, etc. Just as I was getting seriously freaked out, he hopped off the streetcar. Thank god, as I was not about to let him see where I was staying!
Once, while on the 17, a guy just started yelling, “They’re after me! They’re coming for me! Oh gawd! They’re after my teeth! They want to mine my teeth!” Which isn’t strange itself- crazy people yelling on Trimet is not unusual- what IS unusual is that other than the isolated outburst he was completely quiet that day… and every other day he rode that same busy at the same time he never said a word.