I spend a minimum of four hours of my day on public transportation, and that doesn’t include the time it takes me walk or sprint to my stop. When you’re traveling throughout downtown Seattle, you witness a variety of people and learn how to take a step back and not engage in situations. Here are some tips that I have for riding the bus.

Avoid running through oncoming traffic to reach your stop.

Any time after 4 p.m., downtown streets are at a standstill. It’ll take about 15 minutes to cover two blocks, and don’t forget about how long it’ll take the bus to turn. You’ll be sitting on the bus, antsy to get off because you legitimately have somewhere else to be, but the bus driver is more than likely not going to let you off in the middle of a street or a random corner. It’s moments like this where you have to sit back and wait for the ride to come to a complete stop before exiting the vehicle. Then when you get off the bus, you’re probably running like you never had before to get to that connector. The crosswalk light isn’t turning fast enough, but you have the bright idea to sprint for it because you know traffic isn’t moving. WRONG. Do not proceed. You’ll instantly forget about cars with the right to turn or that one driver who’s having a bad day and not afraid to hit the accelerator. From someone who’s ran through too many streets with the red hand up, I’m really trying my luck.

Pay attention at your stop.

There are many different types of people, and areas that you may not be used to while waiting for your bus. This is not the time to make faces or comments at the overload of your senses, you need to be on top of your game. Don’t grimace at the weird smells, avoid talking to strangers, and keep to yourself. But be alert for your bus. I have been on Facebook and barely missed my bus too many times. Also be aware of what bus you’re on. I once was trying a new route, and about fifteen minutes into the ride, the woman sitting next to me asked what bus we were on. I said the route, and she instantly looked confused, and said she thought it was a different route. Having never been on this bus before I couldn’t determine where I was based on my surroundings, and I couldn’t find the sign inside the bus that says what route we’re on. So pay attention, the last thing you want to do is cross the 520 bridge before you realize you aren’t supposed to.

There are different types of people on the bus.

You have the bus regulars, the newbies, and everyone in between. When you're riding the bus as much as I am, you’ll witness a variety of different things. For example, you’ve probably had multiple rides where the person sitting in the front makes conversation with the driver for the whole ride, and you’ll even get a few that aren’t nice to the driver but are, in fact, very threatening to the driver and the rest of the passengers on the bus. You’ll also see people that recognize every one of the riders, as if riding the bus to the Park and Ride is a social reunion of some sort. It’s cute to see, but within five seconds, completely annoying, because they won’t stop talking. You’ll meet people that have no ability to recognize social cues, like if everyone is sleeping on the bus because it’s a hot afternoon, and there’s that one guy that wants to catch up with his mom right at this very moment on the phone. You may even get a new appreciation of clothes. I’ve seen people rock all types of “uniforms.” I’ve counted three butt cracks from ill-fitting pants, four hot doctors, and there’s one woman who rides my bus that is the epitome of business attire. She’s like a walking advertisement for The Loft.

Riding the bus is a fun time, you never know what types of people you’ll meet. Just be careful in how you interact with people and the world around you.