[nfbwatlk] What, in the name of Rosa Parks ...

[Elizabeth Rene]

Dear Mike and Cindy,
I was shocked this morning to hear of your encounter with a Metro bus driver at Pine and Broadway. I read about it again just now in some issues of NFB WA Talk that I had overlooked during the holidays.
I'm so sorry you had such a dreadful experience! It's inconceivable to me that such things should be happening in Seattle at this time. It's also incredible that a Metro bus driver would need "training" in order to understand that people – any people – can sit where they choose once they pay their fair. I've ridden Metro buses in Seattle since 1978, and have never encountered such an egregious instance of misconduct. Then, there are people in the world who believe that once an area is "reserved" for someone else, that someone else should be compelled to stay there and occupy no other space. Witness the experience of our fellow tribal  Americans. This is discrimination pure and simple. 
It makes me so sad that you experienced it. The wonder is that this occurred where it did, in an area of Seattle so densely populated with people of all kinds and conditions who occupy every kind of seat on a Metro bus. Regularly, I have given up my seat on the aisle facing bench to make room for someone in a wheelchair so that my guide dog Alvin can relax under a front facing seat. Never has a passenger objected to sharing such a seat with Alvin and me. Never has a driver been anything but totally courteous to us when such a change has to be made. I do think they like to have us in the aisle facing seats so that they won't forget us if we've asked to be let off at a certain spot. But I've never been told where to sit: only that there are seats available and where they might be found.
I hope that Metro will do more than "apologize" for making you feel uncomfortable on it's buses. I Think a letter to Dow Constantine, and maybe even a King County claim, would be in order. I know from personal experience that Constantine pays attention to such things, having once written a commendation letter for another Metro driver for extraordinary service.
I'm glad you spoke up about your experience, and didn't let it bury itself in your hearts to fester and hurt there. Surely, this has to be a wake up call for our whole city.
Best wishes for a happier 2015,
Elizabeth 

Elizabeth M René 
Attorney at Law 
WSBA #10710
KCBA #21824 
rene0373 at gmail.com