Friday, September 05, 2008

VTA flight crew

If you don't live or work in Santa Clara County, you might not be familiar with VTA, the Valley Transportation Authority. This morning, I sat down in one of their vehicles, and was typing away on my laptop when the operator came on board. He looked something like my picture of a southern sheriff: very short hair, moustache/beard, sunglasses. "Lanky" is not the word for this man's build.

As he stepped into the cockpit/cab, he was saying something to one of the passengers about laptops interfering with his GPS. His body language and smile were most un-sheriff-like.

The passenger was saying something about needing GPS if the train should happen to leave the rails.

I turned my head to face them. "All electronic devices must be turned off until we reach cruising altitude?"

He flashed me a big grin. "Exactly."

"And no cell phones at any time?"

"Ow! That lets me out!" (He had been talking on his cell as he came aboard.) We all laughed, and he closed the cockpit door to begin his pre-flight checklist.

Now does that beat fighting traffic on the Bayshore parking-lot? (And as I write this, our VTA vehicle is passing under the Ellis St. overpass; I see cars moving maybe 15-20 mph on the Bayshore.)

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