Bus Report #725

For the past week, my 22 Fillmore driver has greeted me with a cheery, "Good Morning, Ray-chul!"
It was a little jarring the first time - I'd given a couple of my favorite drivers coffee cards for the holidays and while I'd scribbled a "Thanks, Rachel" on the bottom of each card, I didn't think my signature was actually legible.
But it is nice, and while my early morning cover might be blown if any observant commuters are also Fog City Notes readers, I don't mind.
This morning she said, "By the way, my name's Lacey," and I thought it suited her - it's girly and perky just like she is.
She's been training other drivers recently, so she sits in the seat closest to the door where she can direct the newbies through long light cycles and that wide turn on 16th and Church.
And it's been the Lacey Show ever since. 
Passengers get on the bus and don't say anything to the new driver, and then they see Lacey, and suddenly it's "Good morning," "Nice to see you," "Didn't see you there," "Hey Jane! Hey Rudy! Morning, Octavio!"
And I can't help but think of a television talk show, the host greeting each guest as they walk across the stage.
Today Lacey chatted with some of the teens when they got on the bus, then greeted the day laborers. She ribbed a construction worker who was running late and had only just made the bus. She mopped spilled coffee off of the floor.
At Mission she stood up and walked to the back of the bus, saying: "Hold on one sec, sir, SIR! You wanted Mission, right? Well this is Mission."
The man she was talking to had dozed off. He mumbled something and didn't get up. So Lacey just shook her head and returned to her seat.