Put the Lone Star State and the Occupy Movement together and what do you get?
According to online posts and tweets by members of Occupy San Diego (OSD), 13 members of the group were stranded yesterday in Amarillo, Texas on their way to Occupy Congress in Washington DC after the bus driver insisted they get off his bus.
When Amarillo police failed to change the driver's mind, they told the Occupiers that Greyhound policy gives drivers the authority to exclude whomever they want, so the Occupiers would have to leave.
According to stranded OSD member, "Rambo," the driver, Donald Ainsworth, began yelling at his passengers in the terminal even before getting on the bus. "Once he realized 13 passengers were with Occupy, he began making personal and rude comments towards members when boarding with tickets. No one responded," said Rambo.
Once aboard the bus, Ainsworth shouted at Occupy and non-Occupy passengers alike to "sit down and shut up." According to Rambo, many passengers let Ainsworth know they did not appreciate his manner.
At that point, Ainsworth allegedly left the bus to make what turned out to be an hour-long phone call -- with the passengers locked inside the bus.
Amarillo police arrived while Ainsworth was on the phone (ostensibly to his superiors at Greyhound).
Fellow OSD-er Michael Ponsler describes his experience at the "OB Rag." "Police officers boarded the bus and agreed that the driver was being inappropriate. Surprisingly, the police attempted to negotiate on our behalf."
But Ainsworth wouldn't budge. According to Rambo and Ponsler, the police then walked down the aisle, asking each passenger if he or she was with the group. Those who answered in the affirmative were ordered off the bus by the cops.
Ainsworth then shouted, "Anyone else support Occupy? You can get off too."
The story is still breaking, so many of the details, including driver Donald Ainsworth’s side of the story, witness accounts and Greyhound’s position, have not been published at the time of this writing. However, recalling the bat-crazed anger that often accompanies anti-Occupy sentiment, it isn’t too difficult to believe that it went down exactly as Rambo and Ponsler reported.
If so, I offer this helpful note to Bus Commandante Donald Ainsworth:
To avoid this kind of thing in the future, Don, you should issue a political questionnaire to passengers before they get on your bus. That way you can be assured of carrying only people who believe the way you do. Of course, all you’ll have left will be a couple of redneck oafs with rotten people skills, but they’ll be your kind of people.
To Greyhound: Expect a lot of email and telephone calls on this one.
Comments