Ride The Bus

February 18, 2004 - Edhat Rides The Bus

Contrary to popular belief, not everybody in Santa Barbara drives around in an SUV with a “Heal The Ocean” bumper sticker on the back. There are actually people in Santa Barbara who don’t drive around at all. They take the MTD bus to get to work, to school, and to anywhere else they have to go.

Yesterday the dedicated staff of edhat.com wanted to explore the bus world in more detail. We took a roundtrip on the Number 3 from the downtown Transit Center up to La Cumbre. It cost $1.25 each way and gave us a scenic journey past Cottage Hospital, Oak Park, and Samarkand.

There is a kid’s riddle that goes something like this …

“Say you’re the bus driver of the Number 3 bus. The bus leaves the MTD transit center at 9:00 in the morning with 25 people on board: 15 women, 5 men, and 5 children. At the first stop at Bath & Islay, 1 man gets off. At Bath & Los Olivos, 4 women and 1 man get off. At the main Cottage Hospital stop 9 women, 3 men, and 4 children leave the bus in a quick, but orderly, fashion. 1 person says “Thank You!” At Junipero & Castillo, 1 woman gets off the bus. At Treasure & Calle Real, one woman gets on. At Samarkand, another woman gets on the bus. At the Hitchock bus stop that looks like a day-at-the-beach, 1 women and 1 kid get off. There are no more stops until the bus reaches the end of the line at State and La Cumbre.”

Now, while the riddle is being told, the person answering the riddle (we’ll call him Joe) is doing some tough mental math:

25 + 2 = 27 (got on the bus)

27 – 1 – 5 - 16 – 1 – 2 = 2 (are left on the bus at the end)

So, the riddle-answerer is surprised when the riddle-teller (we’ll call her Jane) says,

“So, what is the bus driver’s name?”

Joe becomes flustered, grins, and eventually laughs concluding that the riddle was a fake, kind of like one of those No-Soap-Radio jokes. But, Jane shows otherwise.

“The bus drivers name is Joe! I said ‘say YOU’RE the bus driver’!”

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Actually, the bus driver yesterday was named Juan Aquirre, but the numbers were not changed. 27 people (mostly women) rode the bus from downtown to La Cumbre. And, in amazing display of numerology at work, 27 people (all different than before) rode the bus back from La Cumbre to downtown. The only difference between the two buses was that the 10 o’clock bus had more student and senior citizens than the 9 o’clock bus. Students and seniors apparently don’t get up that early.

Edhat.com subscriber MookyHar (which is an anagram of ‘Army Hook’ and ‘Oh My Okra’), came closest to the actual numbers with a guess of 27/24. MookyHar wins prize of choice from edhat.com prize grab bag.

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