In response to Zeeba Khalili’s Feb. 23 Wespeak which commended the Ride drivers for their unappreciated contribution to the Wesleyan community, I’d like to share a story that made me respect the drivers even more.
I decided one night to leave my friend’s party early so I called the Ride partially because I was lazy and also because I didn’t want to walk by myself across campus. When the shuttle arrived, I was the first person to go inside and as we drove past Fountain, groups of people also piled in until the van was full. As we passed by one of the apartments some people were asking for a ride and the driver could not say yes because there was no more space. One of them hadn’t heard the driver and tried to open the door and some of the passengers realized that that person was very inebriated and was in no condition to walk far distances. A passenger who wasn’t desperate for a ride gave his seat up and the driver tried to call after the person because ze had started to walk away. Another passenger chased after the intoxicated person and convinced hir to go in the van. That same person decided to walk to her dorm instead, giving her seat up for ze’s friend so that somebody could take care of hir.
While we were in the van, the passengers were worried about the person, consoling hir and advising hir to drink water. As we drove to the destination of the majority of the van, the shuttle driver called his colleagues to drive to the site and pick up the people who needed rides, especially the girl who gave up her seat. He wasn’t sure as to whether his friend had given that girl a ride. After we had dropped most of the people off, including the person who was inebriated, the driver drove back up and saw the person who had given her seat up. He drove in front of her and gave her a ride to her dorm (where we had just dropped other people off) as a gesture of appreciation. The ride back to my building left me in warm spirits. I developed a sense of admiration for the people who cared for the well being of other students in the Wesleyan community, regardless of whether they were acquainted or not. This is my thank you to Mark, Zoe, the other Ride drivers and the other passengers who were generous that night.
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